A Boyle merchant has been fined £50 at Boyle District Court for selling a gin-trap designed to catch rats.
Mr Thomas Cunningham, of Main Street, Boyle, was charged with the offence after the gin-trap was bought on September 28th last in W.J. Sloan hardware store in Boyle.
Supt John Fitzgerald said a Mr Philip Kiernan bought the gin-trap. He believed the trap could not lawfully be sold under the Wildlife Act and reported it to the National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Mr Brendan O'Connor of the NPWS contacted the Garda in Boyle and a search warrant was issued. Mr Paul Wynne, solicitor, defending, said his client accepted that the trap was unapproved under the Wildlife Act. The trap had been bought years ago from a travelling salesman.