§ 13. Miss Fookesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will take steps to ban the use of snares.
§ Mr. StrangMy right hon. Friend the Minister has no powers to do so; but in its advisory work on control of pests, my Department is at all times concerned to prevent avoidable suffering caused by snares, or unintended risks to other creatures.
§ Miss FookesWho does have the power to ban the use of snares?
§ Mr. StrangParliament would have to give the Government such powers, but I can assure the hon. Lady that we recognise that this is a form of pest control which should be used only in very exceptional circumstances. The problem is that in some cases there are no satisfactory alternatives.