Act for Wildlife

Every year, millions of wild animals are persecuted, displaced and cruelly killed across Britain. The scale of their suffering is substantial because our laws fail to give wild animals the protection they need and deserve.

The UK has dozens of wildlife laws, some of which date back to the 1820s. Legislation has not kept pace with modern expectations for animal protection, and it is now a complex jigsaw puzzle with many missing pieces. Gaps and inconsistencies in laws make it impossible for enforcement bodies to take the action needed to successfully prosecute cruelty and deter criminals. Even when convictions are secured, penalties are weak in comparison with similar crimes against companion animals.

What does this mean for our wildlife?

Badger baiting: Badgers are dug out of their setts and forced to fight dogs to the death. First made illegal in 1835, this horrific ‘sport’ nevertheless continues today. It is difficult to successfully prosecute offenders under the current Protection of Badgers Act (1992), and these appallingly cruel crimes carry a maximum sentence of only six months in prison.

Hares: It is illegal to sell hares during their breeding season, between March and July, but it remains legal to shoot them during the same period - leaving vulnerable young hares (leverets) at risk. This outdated legislation needs to be updated to protect hares, particularly as hare populations have declined by 80% over the past century.

Snares: These loops of wire that catch animals by their necks or limbs are still legal to use in England. These horrendously cruel devices can cause severe suffering, including injuries inflicted by wire and slow strangulation of animals caught by the neck. Only a ban on the use of all snares, without exceptions, can protect animals from the unnecessary suffering they inflict. 

Traps: Traps cause slow, agonising deaths and spring traps for mice, rats and moles are not required to be tested for humaneness, due to a 1950s ‘pests’ law. This means that it is legal to make and sell weak traps that effectively squeeze the animals to death, rather than killing them outright.

‘General licenses’: These allow wild animals considered to be ‘pests’, including magpies and pigeons, to be killed in huge numbers, however there is no monitoring to ensure that non-lethal alternatives are considered first and used instead. Other successful but invasive species, such as grey squirrels, are being caught by people who buy and use traps without knowing how to humanely deal with the trapped animal, with no licensing requirement, which has led to them being killed in inhumane ways, including being drowned.

Wildlife crimes: These need to be centrally recorded. The links between wildlife crime and other offences such as violent abuse, theft and burglary are well-documented, yet police are not required to record wildlife crimes centrally. Wildlife crime is so often closely linked with wider criminality: for effective enforcement, we need to tackle both.

It’s time to Act for Wildlife.

Humane World for Animals UK and the RSPCA are calling urgently for wildlife laws to be strengthened, to better protect wildlife, and ensure wild animal welfare is at the centre of wildlife legislation. Our review of wildlife law examines the effectiveness and limitations of existing legislation; we share the experiences of those on the frontline who face challenges and barriers to seeking justice for wildlife due to complicated and fragmented laws;

We are urging the government to Act for Wildlife by consolidating and updating wildlife laws into one Wildlife Act with animal welfare placed at the heart of it. In addition to delivering much-needed clarity for enforcers, this Act could:

1. Strengthen penalties for crimes against wildlife, in line with sentences for other animal welfare offences

2. Introduce new ethical principles for licensing of wildlife management, centred on the precautionary principle

3. Ban the use and sale of inhumane traps, including glue traps and wire snares

4. Better protect wildlife from development where it threatens animals’ habitats

5. Ensure offences cover circumstances where wildlife is harmed by reckless or negligent behaviour.

We’re also asking the Government to:

1. Make wildlife crimes notifiable and recordable, to improve analysis and prevention

2. Increase funding to help tackle wildlife crime, including the National Wildlife Crime Unit, ensuring that training on wildlife law is available to all enforcers.