A WARNING has been issued to rural dog walkers about deadly traps being dotted around the countryside – after a Cumbrian man’s pet got caught in one and died.

Gary Wright was walking his two dogs on land around Nenthead, north Cumbria, last month when he lost one of them.

Mr Wright eventually found his pet, called Murphy, lying dead with a snare caught around his jaw.

Mr Wright found that there were many other snares in the woods.

They were surrounding what are known as “stink pits”, containing dead animals designed to lure foxes into the snares.

Simon Wild, from the National Anti Snaring Campaign, said: “We find the north of England is one of the worst places for snaring in the country because of the grouse shooting.

“A major study by DEFRA has shown that all snares can kill or seriously injure, but all the Government has done is to promote their code of practice which is worthless because snares are indiscriminate and deadly.”