Isle of Wight Snared Badger Put Down

Published: 25 April 2009 Isle of Wight County Press

A badger caught in a snare on the Bowcombe Estate at Shorwell could have been trapped in the device for more than a week.

The animal had to be put down because of its injuries as the snare, attached to a pole which the badger had dragged an unknown distance, had cut deep into its chest.

Snared badger on the Isle of Wight had been in snare for over week.

Joan and Julian Tisdale, of Freshwater, both members of the League Against Cruel Sports, were distressed to find the badger caught up in shrubbery near a fence and footpath and called the police and the RSPCA.

RSPCA officer Mark Buggie attended and the badger was cut free and taken to Green and Forster Veterinary Surgery, Newport.

The vet who attended the badger believed it had been in the snare for more than a week.

A spokesperson for the National Anti-Snaring Campaign told the County Press: “It is disgusting snares have been put in an area where badgers are foraging. They are a protected animal and it would be clear to any gamekeeper laying snares that if badgers inhabit an area, then snares must not be laid.”

P.C. Massey Legal Threat
 
After the incident the National Anti Snaring Campaign wrote both to the landowner and gamekeeper of the Bowcombe Estate at Shorwell pointing out the legal position regarding setting snares near badger setts.

P.C. Massey

P.C. Massey later wrote to the NASC giving a warning under "The Protection from Harassment Act". P.C. Massey's letter threatened "arrest and prosecution" and up to "five years imprisonment" if further letters were sent. The Independent Police Complaints Authority are currently looking into P.C. Massey's threat.

The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 is a piece of United Kingdom law, which, among other things criminalises, and creates a right to protection from, stalking, and persistent bullying in the workplace. However the first three people prosecuted under the act were all peaceful protestors, and commentators such as George Monbiot have voiced the concern that the amended Act effectively "allows the police to ban any campaign they please".