‘Shortcasts’ are short standalone audio comments and statements from conservationists, campaigners, charities, authors and members of our audience. If it needs to be said – say it here!

Snares. Metal nooses, indiscriminate and cruel. Hundreds of thousands of these primitive devices litter the countryside. Two things about snares: a) most people think they're already banned; b) the only people who support their use are gamekeepers and a few farmers (and lobbyists for the shooting industry of course).

Director of the Scottish charity OneKind (and formerly Head of Investigations at the RSPB) Bob Elliot has had more than his fair share of experience of snares. OneKind operates SnareWatch,  an information-sharing and reporting facility about snaring in the UK, and in the following shortcast Bob is unequivocal about his and OneKind's position on snares: "We've got to ban them - they shouldn't be being used in our countryside - they are causing unnecessary and unjustified suffering." 

• OneKind website and Twitter feed
• SnareWatch Annual Report 2020
• The War on Wildlife Project  Articles on snares