Snare Advice

If you find an animal caught in a snare

Call the RSPCA’s 24-hour national cruelty and advice line on 0300 1234 999 immediately. If possible, arrange to meet with whoever attends so that you can guide them directly to the injured animal. Please do not attempt to release the animal yourself. The animal may injure you, or it may suffer further injuries itself. It may even escape with the snare still in place, and die a lingering death.

We’ve had several people report back that in some cases the RSPCA response has been poor, just be persistent with them as they have a lot of wildlife crime to deal with regrettably.

If you find a live or dead badger in a snare

Contact the Badger Trust on 020 7228 6444 and call the RSPCA’s 24-hour national cruelty and advice line on 0300 1234 999 immediately. Say exactly where you have found the snared animal. If possible, arrange to meet with whoever attends to investigate, so that you can take them to the casualty. Badgers are strong animals and are not used to being handled, so if you try to touch an injured badger, you may be bitten. Please do not interfere with the victim, leave the body exactly as you found it so that the evidence can be fully recorded.

If you find a snare

Take a photograph (if you don’t have a camera use your mobile phone) and record its exact location and contact us. If you find an illegal snare or snares of any description set in such a way that they are likely to catch pets or protected species, please contact the RSPCA and contact us.

Report a Snaring Incident

The NASC contact page allows members of the public and professionals to quickly and easily report incidents. This helps us gather accurate figures on the scale of the issue so that a case can be made for appropriate changes to wildlife protection law. If you deal with a snare incident please report it.