Snares cause enormous wildlife suffering globally, killing target and non-target species indiscriminately. Welfare-focused advocacy seeks to reform or eliminate their use.
Snares cause some of the most prolonged and intense suffering of any wildlife management tool. Strangulation in neck snares is slow — animals may struggle for extended periods before death. Animals injured by snares that escape face infection, gangrene, and impaired ability to hunt or escape predators. Non-target catches — including endangered species, juvenile animals, and domestic animals — are routine and create conservation harm alongside individual welfare harm. The scale of snaring globally is enormous and largely unmonitored. Welfare reform efforts focus on banning self-locking snares, requiring regular check intervals, promoting alternatives, and ultimately moving toward elimination of snaring as a management tool wherever alternatives exist.