Animal welfare is devolved, and since 2023 the four nations have genuinely diverged. This is the same practice compared across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, with the primary source and a last-checked date against every cell.
This is a description of the law, not legal advice. Every row links to the primary source and carries the date it was last checked. Check the source before relying on it — general licences are reissued each January and commencement dates move.
A snare is a wire noose set to catch an animal by the neck or body. Two nations have prohibited use outright; two permit it subject to conditions.
Self-locking snares are prohibited. Free-running snares may be set, and a person who sets one must inspect it at least once every day.
The Animal Welfare Strategy for England, published 22 December 2025, states that the government will ban snare traps. No commencement date has been announced.
legislation.gov.uk · checked 22 August 2026
Section 46 amended the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to prohibit setting in position or using any snare or other cable restraint in Wales. The section contains no licensing exception.
legislation.gov.uk · checked 22 August 2026
Section 6 amended the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to prohibit setting or using a snare to kill or take any animal other than a wild bird, and prevents a licence authorising snare use. Commenced by SSI 2024/267.
legislation.gov.uk · checked 22 August 2026
Snares may be used subject to conditions: free-running, fitted with a stop and a swivel, staked or attached to prevent dragging, checked at least once every 24 hours, and not set where a caught animal could become suspended or drown. Breach is an offence under the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. The Order came into operation the day after it was affirmed by resolution of the Assembly; that date is not recorded here.
legislation.gov.uk · checked 22 August 2026
Status describes the position today. Anything proposed, consulted on or before a legislature is shown separately as a proposed change, and is never counted as law.
“Not recorded” means not recorded. Where a commencement date or an instrument has not been confirmed against a primary source, the cell says so rather than estimating.
Data: /api/law.json. Corrections with a primary source are welcome — a wrong cell here is worse than a missing one.