BADGERS and the LAW

Badger (Photo credit: Tatterdemalion!)

BADGERS Under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, in England and Wales (the law has been amended in Scotland) it is against the law to:

•Wilfully kill, injure or take a badger.

•Cruelly mistreat a badger.

•Dig for a badger.

•Intentionally or recklessly damage or destroy a badger sett – or obstruct access to it.

•Cause a dog to enter a badger sett.

•Disturb a badger when it is occupying a sett.

But the protection is not absolute – there are exceptions. Licences to undertake some actions can be issued if it is justified. Take a case where a badger sett is found on a proposed site for a road or housing development. Just bulldozing the sett would risk killing or injuring the badgers and be illegal so the authorities may license action allowing the badgers to be carefully excluded from the sett, making them move elsewhere in their territory. (RSPCA)

badgers (Photo credit: jmuttram)

RSPCA – Living with Badgers leaflet available HERE. THis is very informative and a useful handout to possible garden badger persecutors!

Operation Meles is an intelligence-led UK-wide police operation gathering evidence of badger persecution and targeting offenders