Neil Macdonald is quite right that managers of shooting estates are likely to be largely responsible for the demise of mountain hares in Scotland (Hare population is being slaughtered, Letters, September 6). Some people try to justify the persecution of these wild animals on the grounds that the ticks they can carry may affect the artificially high stocks of birds to be shot by a minority of "sportsmen" in the name of entertainment.
No doubt many mountain hares will be caught and killed in snares. These traps are not only cruel but are indiscriminate and can catch non-target animals, including protected species such a mountain hares, otters and badgers. This is why we believe the use of these brutal devices is incompatible with European and UK conservation legislation and should be prohibited.
Last week the Scottish Government released the analysis of responses to its consultation on the future of snaring. This showed a more than two-to-one majority in favour of an outright ban on snares. The government said that the most prevalent and obvious reason given for supporting a ban was to prevent animal cruelty. Snares were viewed as indiscriminate, often leading to suffering and animal cruelty in both target and non-target species.
We hope the government will shortly announce its intention to introduce a long-overdue ban on the manufacture, sale, possession and use of all snares in Scotland.
Such a move would not only reduce the suffering caused to our wild animals but would also help to conserve our threatened wild animals.
Ross Minett, Campaigns Director, Advocates for Animals, 10 Queensferry Street, Edinburgh.
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