The family of Harry the cat has been left in shock after their much-loved Harry returned home with a severe snare injury to his abdomen.

(Upsetting image below).

Harry had been missing for five days when he managed to make his way back to his family despite his severe injury. He was rushed to a veterinarian who concluded that the severity of Harry’s injuries would indicate that he had been trapped in a snare. Indeed, the snare was so severe that Harry’s family member said that she thought he was nearly cut in half when she went to lift him.

Harry’s family member said:

“I felt sick that Harry had been tortured like this, he had been missing for 5 days and the thought of him being trapped in a snare all that time makes me feel sick, but the severity of his injuries would indicate this".

Sadly, Harry is still very poorly and his loving family are doing all they can to help him pull through. They have commented that it will be a ‘miracle’ if Harry pulls through and stated that they hope the person who set the snare ‘at the very least, feels remorse for what they have done to our innocent defenceless cat and hope they will never set another snare’.

Upon their request, the names and location of Harry’s family remain undisclosed.

Cruel traps

While snaring regulations might be stricter in Scotland compared to the rest of the UK, they have still failed to protect animals from the extreme physical and mental suffering caused by these archaic devices, as highlighted in our latest SnareWatch Annual Report.

In over a decade of SnareWatch reports since we launched the reporting tool in 2011, we’ve seen time and time again the prolonged suffering inflicted on animals caught by snares, regardless of regulations.

Welfare issues inflicted by snaring include strangulation, deep wounds, organ damage, exposure to attacks from other animals and mental suffering.

Non-discriminate

Snares are non-discriminate and catch a variety of species, including cats, dogs, otters and badgers. Sadly, Teddy’s devastating story isn’t the first report we’ve received involving an injured companion animal and unless snares are banned it will not be the last.

But snares don’t only cause injuries they are also responsible for the deaths of companion animals.

In 2018, we were horrified to receive a report of a dog, Murphy, who had died in a snare. Murphy the cocker spaniel was very sadly found dead in a snare by his guardian after Murphy has disappeared off the path while the two had been on a walk together.

Snaring in Scotland

76% of the Scottish public support a ban on sale and use of snares in Scotland and yet these cruel traps are still legal.*

However, the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee in the Scottish Parliament is currently considering the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill. This is the Bill that will license grouse shooting, introduce a ban on glue traps, and could possibly introduce a ban on snares.

We assisted our supporters in responding to the Committee’s call to views on the Bill, calling for a ban on the manufacture, sale and use of snares in Scotland.

The Welsh Government is leading the way in banning snares. Scotland must not lag behind. It is time to consign snares to history.

* This figure is from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 1,055 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 6th - 10th November 2020.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all Scotland adults (aged 18+).