The mustelid family including stoats, weasels and polecats are small predators that face welfare challenges from legal trapping, habitat loss and historic persecution, with the polecat recovering in parts of England and Wales.
Mustelid welfare in the context of legal trapping requires attention to trap design, checking frequency and humaneness of kill. Even approved trap designs can cause injury and distress if not functioning correctly or if checking intervals are too long. Animals caught alive in cage traps and awaiting checking experience significant stress. The polecat recovery demonstrates that without persecution, populations can recover naturally — providing welfare benefits through animals living natural lives rather than being actively managed. Legal stoat and weasel trapping for game management purposes involves a welfare cost that must be weighed against the conservation benefit to ground-nesting birds and other species protected by this predator management.