Wire snares cause significant wildlife welfare harm - reform efforts focus on free-running snares, mandatory training, and eventual elimination of snare use.
Snare welfare harm is significant and well-documented. Animals caught in snares experience acute fear, pain from struggling against the wire, hypothermia, and dehydration over the restraint period. Non-target species - badgers, otters, deer, cats, dogs - face particularly severe welfare harm as they cannot be released by the setter with minimal welfare cost. Scotland's ban on free-running snares follows Wales and reflects scientific consensus that snares cannot be made sufficiently humane. England's continued permitting of snares is a welfare gap. Supporting enforcement of snare legislation and advocacy for an English ban are important welfare interventions.