Members' Business — S5M- 05012 Colin Smyth: Snaring

That the Parliament acknowledges the recent Scottish National Heritage report, Review of Snaring for the Scottish Government, which offers what it sees as only a limited number of recommendations to strengthen the legislation on snaring; understands that the League Against Cruel Sports considers the review to be a “wasted opportunity” given its limited scope and that OneKind has said that the report was “destined to fail’ as it excluded consideration of whether snares should be used at all; notes that the October 2016 report, Cruel and Indiscriminate: Why Scotland must become snare-free, which was commissioned jointly by the League Against Cruel Sports and OneKind, suggested that, regardless of any future tweaks to the legislation, snares would continue to be cruel and indiscriminate; further notes that this paper cited instances of evisceration, strangulation and agonising deaths experienced by the animals, including non-target animals such as Scottish wildcats, mountain hares, badgers, hedgehogs, deer, otters, and even family pets, and notes the calls for the Scottish Government to consult on an outright ban on snaring in the South Scotland region and across the country