A NORTH-EAST wildlife group has called for a ban on snares following a series of incidents in the region.

Durham Badger Group says the snares kill all sorts of wildlife, including badgers, which are slowly choked to death as the wires tighten around their necks.

The comments come after the RSPCA confirmed it was investigating the case of a fox which died a slow death in a snare found recently by County Durham animal rights activist John Gill, near Stanhope, County Durham.

The animal had bitten through a fence post in a bid to free itself.

The RSPCA said it was a legally-set snare but was not in compliance with guidelines set by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, which state that snares should not be set against a fence.

Durham Badger Group, and its umbrella organisation, the National Federation of Badger Groups, say that all snares should be banned.

A spokesman for the Durham group said: "The use of snares in Britain is inflicting needless suffering and death upon badgers and other wildlife, as we have seen recently, when a fox was found hanged in a snare set on a fenceline in Weardale."

He said that although snares have been in use for many years, mainly targeted at foxes and rabbits, they also caught other creatures.

The spokesman said: "Gamekeepers and others who set snares may take precautions to try to ensure that they will capture only the intended victims.

"However, it is simply not possible to set a snare in such a way that it will only catch a rabbit or a fox and nothing else.

"The fact is that a great many badgers and other non-target animals are caught in snares every year.

"Other animals caught in snares include dogs, cats, sheep, horses, deer, and even otters. Many of these animals suffer a terrible fate."

"A slow death by strangulation - or even near decapitation in some cases - is bad enough but some animals get their legs caught in snares, and end up with the snare cutting down to the bone. Such animals may attempt to escape by gnawing off their own limbs.

"Both badgers and foxes have been found with snares that have almost cut them in half, the snares around their bodies having tightened to around five centimetres in diameter. Some of these animals were still alive when found."

Gamekeeping and countryside organisations argue that snares are an important part of controlling pests, such as rabbits and foxes, and that all efforts are taken to ensure that they are set correctly within the law and they are checked regularly to reduce suffering to captured animals.