Make a difference to badgers in Stop Badger Crime week
- Badger Trust Staff Team
- Jul 11, 2022
- 6 min read
On the Protection of Badgers Act 30th anniversary, Badger Trust’s PBA30 campaign calls for tougher sentences for badger persecution crimes.
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the Protection of Badgers Act (1992). The Act, a landmark win for badger protection, made it illegal to interfere with badgers or their setts. Malicious activities such as badger baiting, digging, sett blocking, and negligent crimes, such as accidental damage to a badger sett, were all made illegal under this one legislation.
Yet, 30 years on, the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) needs updating to better reflect Britain’s stance on animal cruelty as the world leader in animal welfare law. Under the current legislation, harms caused to badgers and their setts come with a maximum penalty of six months imprisonment. Badger Trust’s PBA30 campaign calls for this sentencing to be increased to five years and for badger crimes to be listed with the Home Office as a notifiable offence.
A double standard for current animal protection law
In recent years, several watershed moments have occurred for UK animal welfare law which secured Britain’s place at the forefront of animal protection legislation on the global stage. Not only did the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill 2022 recognise the sentience of invertebrates such as octopus and crustaceans for the first time, but the need to deter animal cruelty offences saw sentencing within the Animal Welfare Act undergo revision.
Gaining Royal Assent in 2021, the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act had the sentencing for crimes against domestic animals increase from 12 months to five years imprisonment. This applied to all forms of animal abuse including dog fighting and badger baiting. Yet this meant that, according to current law, if a person is convicted of badger baiting where both the dog and badger were harmed, greater legal weight is provided to the dog’s suffering over the badger’s.
A glaring inequality
Whilst dogs and badgers live in very different environments and their interactions with humans vastly differ, both species express the same ability to physically and psychologically suffer. Both species are sentient, both feel pain, and both require veterinary treatment and often lengthy recovery periods after instances of baiting.
Similarly, just as dogs form strong attachments to their human families, badgers form strong social bonds with their clan members and their natal sett. The disruption caused to social groups by the removal of badgers or destruction of their sett can therefore cause them significant psychological harm.
It is unethical to assign greater protection to one species than the other without scientific justification for viewing their potential for suffering differently. Lower sentencing for harming badgers compared to harming dogs shows a clear double standard for the welfare of domestic and wild animals.
Yet low maximum sentences for crimes against badgers are not only a matter of species inequality. Short sentences also impact the effectiveness of badger crime reporting. Unless a crime is paired with a five-year prison sentence, the Home Office does not consider the crime a notifiable offence.
The need for notifiable status
A notifiable offence is a crime which must, by law, be categorised by the police when the crime is reported. Notifiable status makes it much easier for police to monitor the rates of specific crimes and where they happen. According to the Home Office Counting Rules for Recorded Crime:
“An incident will be recorded as a crime (notifiable offence) for ‘victim related offences’ if, on the balance of probability: (a) the circumstances of the victims report amount to a crime defined by law (the police will determine this, based on their knowledge of the law and counting rules); and (b) there is no credible evidence to the contrary immediately available. A belief by the victim, or person reasonably assumed to be acting on behalf of the victim, that a crime has occurred is usually sufficient to justify its recording.”
Presently, under the Protection of Badgers Act, badger crime is not officially recognised as a notifiable offence because it is a victimless crime (badgers are not legally considered victims). Police are therefore not required to issue a crime reference number to reported badger crime, and will log the crime as an ‘incident’ instead.
Without a crime reference number, the investigative process is difficult to follow, and without the crime being specifically logged, it is impossible to fully understand the national picture. Where some police forces will log badger crime with the Badger Persecution Prevention Lead of the National Wildlife Crime Unit, others mark the incident as ‘miscellaneous’ instead. Therefore, badger persecution crime statistics are likely much lower than the number of crime instances reported.
Craig Fellowes, Badger Trust Wildlife Crime and Training Officer and Badger Persecution Prevention Lead for the National Wildlife Crime Unit, explains:
“We need public support to ensure badgers get the protection they need. The cruel persecution of badgers has to stop, and we need action now.
“Not only do we need increased sentences under current legislation to make statistical information available, we vitally need people to report incidents. It is important that the public know when it is appropriate and safe to record evidence. The future of badger protection relies on the incidents being reported and education helps people understand the issues.”
A lack of notifiability can be particularly problematic. Members of the public and badger group members struggle to engage their local authorities in tackling badger persecution crime because there is not enough recorded evidence to show trends in illegal harms to badgers. Without statistical evidence that badger crime is happening, police forces can be left unaware of the prevalence of badger crime within their own jurisdiction.
Despite the police listing badger persecution as a wildlife crime priority, the law is simply not strong enough for badger persecution to be effectively managed. It is therefore vital that sentencing for badger persecution crimes is increased from six months to five years, bringing it in line with the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act and securing the much-needed notifiable status.
Understanding the trends in badger persecution crime across Britain will not only make it easier for police to designate their efforts, time and resources to the areas in most need, but it will also allow animal welfare organisations such as Badger Trust to do the same. Without statistics, neither the police nor local authorities can effectively protect Britain’s most iconic native species. To get the statistics, the law needs to change.
PBA30 key asks
Badger Trust is calling on the government to:
Extend the maximum sentence for convictions under the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) from 6 months to 5 years, bringing it into line with Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021. This means offenders would be faced with a 5-year sentence for the abuse of a badger, in the same way as they would for the abuse of a dog used in the same crime
Make wildlife crimes like badger persecution notifiable to the Home Office, so that the real level of this type of crime can be accurately assessed, reported on, and tackled. At present wildlife crimes are not recorded in this way, and there are no official national statistics. Increasing sentencing would, by default, make a crime under the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) a notifiable offence.
Stop Badger Crime week
Stop Badger Crime week is a week of dedicated badger persecution crime awareness to both celebrate the protected status of badgers whilst calling for further progress in the legislation.
According to a YouGov survey, conducted by Badger Trust in 2022, 64% of participants (a representative sample of UK adults) were unaware that badgers were even protected by law. This, combined with a 36% rise in badger persecution crime in 2020 shows that the current legislation is not working.
This week, Badger Trust will be sharing resources, educational articles, videos and more, to shine a light on the rising issue of badger persecution crime throughout Britain.
How can you help?
Help us campaign for tougher sentencing
You can join our PBA30 campaign and add your voice to our call for better protection for badgers. We’ve written to the Defra Secretary of State, Rt Hon George Eustice MP, to ask him to extend sentencing for badger crime. This would mean sentences for crimes such as badger baiting and shooting would present a real deterrent to badger abusers.
You can write to the Secretary of State and your MP too. The more letters they receive, the more chance we have of bringing about change, and as quickly as possible.
Remember the 3 Rs: Recognise, Record and Report badger crime and suspicious incidents
When you Recognise, Record and Report badger crime, you help investigators bring offenders to justice.
If a badger crime or suspicious incident is in progress:
call 999 and ask for police assistance
ensure you get a reference number for your call
If a badger crime has already happened:
call the police on their non-emergency number 101, or online to your relevant police force using ‘report a crime’.
ensure you get a reference number for your report
In all cases, keep yourself safe and do not approach or disturb the scene.
Download and display our Stop Badger Crime campaign posters
Badger Trust Protect Both: A4 poster
Badger Trust Remember the 3 Rs: A4 poster
How to report Badger Crime: A4 poster
Other ways you can get involved and make a difference to badgers
Share this article on your social media with the hashtags #PBA30 and #StopBadgerCrime
Join our clan and help protect badgers by becoming a Badger Trust supporter
Get involved with your local Badger Group and make a difference to badgers near you
Visit the Brock shop for badger-themed gifts – 100% of the profits go back to our campaign work for badgers and your purchase helps spread badgery joy
