Dear Committee Members

RE: Response to the evidence session to the Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee on Wednesday the 30^th of November 2016, to include our response to the letter received by the committee from the League Against Cruel Sports dated 5^th of December 2016.

Many thanks for the opportunity to give evidence on the use of snares in Wales on the 30^th of November 2016.

Firstly, it is important to note that the figure quoted by Vicky Howells AM of 1.7 million mammals snared every year in England and Wales is in fact the League Against Cruel Sports figure and is nowhere to be found in the DEFRA report. Once again, we emphasise that this calculation is wholly inaccurate and is a miss representation of scientific research.

It is pleasing to see that in the letter dated the 5^th of December 2016 to the committee that the League wholeheartedly admit and even set out the methodology of their miss use of data from the two different case studies . The process is exactly as we analysed and is therefore not a true account of the number of mammals snared every year in Wales. A further example of how ridiculous their figures are is that if this were true, then the whole of the mammal population would be wiped out in approximately 18 weeks.

I also note that they claim that their figures are not challenged by DEFRA. This is of course for DEFRA to comment upon, however I am not surprised in the slightest that DEFRA have not commented on such a bizarre manipulation of scientific research.

I would welcome further engagement with the committee on this issue and the door is wide open for any practical or written information we as an organisation can provide.

Yours sincerely,

Rachel Evans

Director for Wales

Countryside Alliance