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Doomed badger struggled for 24 hours in Dept of Agriculture snare
2 April 2008 Photos released by Badger Watch Ireland show a badger injured so badly in a Department of Agriculture snare that a vet called to the scene had to put the exhausted animal out of its misery. ICABS is joining Badgerwatch in its renewed calls on the government to stop this cruel snaring operation which has already left tens of thousands of badgers dead.
Statement from Badger Watch Ireland
She was a soft target for the trapper. One of last year’s cubs, likely. She had struggled in the wire snare for more than twenty four hours. It caught her across the groins and abdomen. The more she struggled, the tighter it became. Four times She had circled a branch on the ditch in her attempt to free herself until the branch broke. This is the barbaric multi-strand wire snare which the Irish Department of Agriculture describes as a "restraining harness" and would have us believe that the snared badger relaxes in it while awaiting its fate. Exhausted and almost unconscious the badger lay until locals became aware of her plight. The wire had cut into her body and its marks were plainly seen. The Department argue that there’s a "stop" on the snare unlike illegal snares which are free-running. The stop in effect holds the animal in an eleven-inch noose, far too tight for an animal the size of a badger. A vet was called to attend the badger but such were her injuries it was necessary to immediately end the suffering. It is a national scandal that the Department, which snares thousands of badgers annually as part of a highly controversial TB Eradication scheme, sees fit to allow snaring of badgers during their very vulnerable breeding season, January – May (Inclusive). The young sow was checked to established if she was lactating. Luckily, she was not, otherwise her dependent cubs would have suffered the fate that no doubt many other orphaned cubs suffered – a lingering death from starvation and hypothermia. Badgerwatch is now calling on our Government for an immediate halt to its badger culling operations. What have we got to show for almost two decades of slaughtering the animals? Ireland's bovine TB levels rocketed by 13% in 2007. URGENT ACTION ALERTS Please appeal to Minister Mary Coughlan to show compassion and suspend the cruel badger snaring operation. Remind her that the badger is a protected species in Ireland and that the Protection of Animals Act, for which she is responsible, makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal. Tell her that a recent report stated that "badger culling apparently has the capacity to increase badger-to-badger transmission of infection, potentially undermining anticipated reductions in badger-to-cattle transmission."
Minister Mary Coughlan
Please write to the Minister for the Environment and the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Remind them that the Wildlife Act, for which they are responsible, lists the badger as a protected species. Demand that they stop licensing the snaring and killing of thousands of badgers as part of a cruel and discredited TB eradication scheme.
Minister John Gormley
Dr. Ciaran O'Keeffe
More images: Dead badgers in Department snares
The following image shows a badger dead in an Irish Department of Agriculture snare. At the base of the tree to which the snare is attached are scratch marks where the badger desperately tried to claw its way to freedom.
For more photos of snares and dead badgers, please visit our Badger Snaring Gallery.
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