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Countryside Alliance Ireland E-Route29 March 2010 Manage your e-mail subscription

In this email:NI Environment Committee vote to Ban SnaringRoI Firearms Licensing - Time is Running Out

NI Environment Committee vote to Ban SnaringThe Northern Ireland Environment Committee during its clause by clause scrutiny ofthe new Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill voted yesterday to ban the use ofsnares. We believe that this is an ill concived decision and one which has beendriven by the Animal Rights Activists.

We presented evidence to the Environment Committee on the use the snares andhighlighted that the use of snares is a valuable means for land management. At atime when the Committee were also placing the Curlew and the Golden Plover on toschedule 5, we are unable to comprehend their logic in this decision to ban snaringas both these birds are ground nesting and evidence has shown the decline in thenumbers of these birds is due to predation.

Are the Animal Rights Activists going to control predators? Well the answer is No - they will walk away and start to concentrate on something else like Angling.

At the moment snaring is subject to legal restrictions and when properly practised isan effective and humane form of pest and in particular, fox control. Fox control isnecessary in order to ensure that damage to game, wildlife and livestock by foxpredation is reduced to acceptable levels, particularly at vulnerable times of the yeare.g. nesting and lambing time. It is the responsibility of all those involved in fox control to ensure their methods

are legal, humane and carried out with sensitivity and respect for othercountryside users and wildlife.

Without snaring, fox and rabbit numbers will increase because other methods cannotmake up the gap in control. Opponents of snaring claim it is an indiscriminatemethod of pest control that regularly catches non-target species. This is false. A well-designed snare, set correctly, is a highly effective and targeted method of restrainingfoxes and rabbits until they can be humanely dispatched. We asked the Environment Committee to refer to legislation as it relates to snaring inScotland; snares have to be free-running and must have a stop, so they cannottighten beyond a prescribed width for restraint only. New snare designs are alsobeing developed that will allow any non-target animals to break away. It is estimated that snaring accounts for 30% of all foxes controlled bygamekeepersand shoot managers each year and on some land where it would be difficult to useother methods, this figure is as high as 75%.

If snaring is banned, we will face a huge battle to prevent increased foxpredation of ground-nesting birds, and leverets.

Countryside Alliance Ireland opposes any attempt to ban the use of legal snares inNorthern Ireland. We urge all our members to contact the Minister of theEnvironment, Edwin Poots, to make their voices heard and urge him not to ban theuse of snares. We call on the Minister to withstand the pressure of the Animal RightsActivits and to implement a licencing system to allow snaring to continue.

RoI Firearms Licensing - Time is Running OutIf you received an extension to your firearm certificate last September, you shouldnow carefully check the date that it expires. This date is on the letter you received fromthe Garda Commissioner. You MUST apply for your new certificate before your extension expires. You may applyup to 3 months before the expiry date. It is recommended, however, that you apply toyour local Garda Station on application form FCA1 in good time. If, for whateverreason, you do not have your extended certificate, you must apply IMMEDIATELYfor your new 3 year certificate. You should also be aware that from 1st January 2010, it is now an offence to fail toreport the loss or theft of a firearm within 3 days of becoming aware of the loss ortheft. If you no longer wish to apply for a new firearm certificate, please contact yourlocal Garda Station for advice regarding firearms disposal. For more information on firearms licensing consult the Garda Website www.garda.ie

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