Stop Badger Crime: Exposing the Cruelty of Badger Baiting and Digging

This month, as part of their ‘Stop Badger Crime’ campaign, Badger Trust are raising awareness of one of the most disturbing and persistent wildlife crimes in Britain: badger baiting and digging.

Despite being legally protected, the badger remains one of Britain’s most persecuted wild animals. Across the UK and Ireland, these iconic creatures face brutal threats — from baiting with dogs to the destruction of their setts by hunts, developers and shooting estates.

What is Badger Digging?

Badger digging is often wrongly viewed as a “sport”. It involves sending small dogs, usually terriers, underground into a badger sett to locate a badger. Handlers use electronic locator collars (“ferret finders”) to track the dogs through the tunnels.

Once the dog has found the badger, the perpetrators dig down by hand to reach them. The badger, exhausted and terrified, is then dragged from the sett.

Although the dogs are supposed to “stand their ground” rather than fight, underground encounters often end violently. The strength of a badger’s jaws and forelimbs can cause horrific injuries to the dogs. Ironically, while animal welfare laws protect the dogs, the badger, wild and not yet considered captive, is not.

Once surfaced, badgers are frequently bagged, caged or thrown to the dogs. Some are kept alive to be used again later in staged fights.

What is Badger Baiting?

Badger baiting takes this cruelty even further. The badger is pitted against one or more dogs, sometimes terriers, but often larger, more powerful breeds such as Staffordshire Bull Terriers or bull-lurcher crosses. The outcome is almost always the same: the badger is killed, and the dogs are left with severe injuries and disfigurements.

In previous decades, badgers were commonly dug from their setts and taken to baiting pits elsewhere. Today, much of this cruelty happens on site, with fights taking place in or around the sett itself.

A Hidden, Violent Crime

Badger baiting and digging are not harmless pastimes. They are organised, deliberate acts of animal cruelty. The individuals involved are often violent, and members of the public should never approach anyone they suspect of committing these crimes.

Badger diggers frequently claim to be “foxing” or “rabbiting” if caught, making investigations difficult Anyone who sees people acting in a suspicious manner involving dogs, spades, nets or locator equipment near possible badger setts should report it immediately. 

Act now 

•  Learn more and find out how to report badger crime.

• Share our social media post to raise awareness of badger baiting