The campaign is seeking a total ban on snares

Advocates for Animals and the League Against Cruel Sports have visited Galashiels and Dumfries to try to end the use of "primitive wire traps".

Campaign director, Ross Minett, said the vast majority of people supported a complete ban on snares.

Countryside groups have defended their use as being a "vital tool for land management".

The two-week nationwide anti-snaring campaign hopes to achieve a ban on the sale, manufacture, use and possession of snares.

The vast majority of people in Scotland would support a complete ban on snares Ross Minett Advocates for Animals

Mr Minett said: "Our high-profile public campaign will raise awareness across Scotland that snares are inhumane, indiscriminate and still in use across much of Scotland.

"These are such primitive, cruel and unnecessary traps that it is perhaps not surprising that the vast majority of people presumed they had already been banned.

"The vast majority of people in Scotland would support a complete ban on snares."

During their visit to Galashiels, the campaign was given the support of south of Scotland SNP MSP Christine Grahame.

She said the practice of snaring animals was "barbaric" and had "no place in the 21st century".

However, the use of snares has been defended by countryside groups.

A wide range of rural organisations - including the Scottish Countryside Alliance - issued a joint statement saying snaring was already subject to strict controls.

Strict code

It added that it helped to protect game birds, ground-nesting birds and the country's natural heritage from "pests" like foxes and rabbits.

The statement said: "We believe the best way forward is a strict industry code of practice, enforced diligently by all employers and representative bodies, to ensure that snares continue to be used responsibly.

"We will also introduce even higher standards of education and training for all those who use snares as a working tool.