APPENDIX 7
Memorandum from the Mid Sussex Badger
Protection Group
There is currently a spate of badger digging
incidents taking place within the MSBPG area. These are being
perpetrated by a small group of individuals known to the Police
and RSPCA and have been witnessed by several members of the public.
This has been going on since late last year, so far as the Police
know, and may have been going on longer than that.
MSBPGs experience is that the Police and RSPCA
do not have the resources to carry out a full and proper investigation
into these incidents. Witness statements are not taken and forensic
evidence is not collected within sufficient time to be of any
value. The Wildlife Liaison Officer has told us that he has other
duties to perform and of course is not himself available 24X7.
It has also been suggested that any prosecution is more likely
to be undertaken by the RSPCA than by the CPS. Quite clearly wildlife
crime is regarded as low priority.
The WLO has stated that, when he has finished
collecting evidence he "hopes" to get a six month custodial
sentence. This is the maximum which can be imposed for a single
incident of badger digging, but what we are seeing in Sussex is
a systematic plundering of wildlife for the perverted entertainment
of a bunch of sadists. The sentient creatures which have been
dug out of their homes are not found dead nearby. Which suggests
that they are being transported to be abused and tormented to
death elsewhere. Surely this type of crime should carry a much
heavier sentence than a mere six months.
If we claim to be a civilised society we should
not tolerate this sickening brutality in our midst. We must put
sufficient resources into catching these people, and then lock
them away for a very long time. Systematic and calculated brutality
against vulnerable creatures is just as un-civilised as the same
type of crime against vulnerable humans, and the perpetrators
of this kind of wildlife crime are very often violent against
people too. Life sentences should be imposed, and should mean
life.
April 2004
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