Cat and fox died in snares at Bolton Abbey Estate Grouse moors in North Yorkshire

Fox and cat snared at Bolton Abbey owned by the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire based at Chatsworth House.

BOLTON ABBEY ESTATE NOW ADMITS TO YORKSHIRE POST IT DOES NOT SCAN CATS IT KILLS FOR MICROCHIPS!

Cats and foxes were found dead in snares at Bolton Abbey Estate Grouse moors which cover 13,500 acres in North Yorkshire including Barden West and Barden East moor.

Paul, a runner went a few metres off access land due to heather burning on 12 February. At Nelly Park wood he found a dead cat and fox that had been snared. He emailed the estate but was ignored. Police investigated and found the bodies gone, but the keeper admitted to police having seen the email. The keeper also said the cat was “feral” to justify having killed it.

Snare set in freezing conditions on the Bolton Abbey Estate

The snares were removed before police arrived. On our examination in high resolution it is a snare were are not familiar with, but appears to be a newer GWCT snare with breakaway. I trust police will examine the estate to see others!

Runners have previously reported finding dead foxes in snares on the moors. A spokesman for the estate has emailed this:
“Thank you for your email. I can advise that much of the Bolton Abbey Estate sits within the North Pennine Moors Special Protection Area (SPA). SPAs are selected by central government in conjunction with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee to protect one or more rare, threatened or vulnerable bird species. In this instance these include the golden plover, hen harrier, merlin and peregrine falcon.

A key aim of the SPA is to restrict the predation of and disturbance to breeding birds caused by native and non-native predators. To support this aim, we legally control foxes and feral cats within the SPA.

The snares used on the Bolton Abbey Estate are legal and operated by trained staff under a code of best practise, which is endorsed by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust. The products used are code compliant, and exceed legal requirements. They have a ‘break away’ design that allows larger non-target species to break free. All snares on the estate are set in discreet locations away from public footpaths and private dwellings.

I can also advise that we work with North Yorkshire Police Wildlife Officers, who are aware of our predator control in support of the SPA.”

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Bolton Abbey is the Yorkshire Estate of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire based at Chatsworth House.
Please contact the Duke and Duchess at visit@chatsworth.org

We are informed that these will be passed to the Duke and Duchess. Point out that DEFRA has found the code compliant snare causes significant injury and death and the blood is on their hands.