A horrific story. I chose not to include the photo provided by the police.
My full quote is below.
"I'm appalled, shocked and disgusted by this act, as any right-minded person should be.
However this poor badger lost its life - and we'll never know if it was killed by a car, caught in a snare or abused by people - decapitating it and dumping its headless remains by an urban footpath is an act of absolute depravity and disrespect for both wildlife and people.
Subjecting any animal to mutilation, even after death, speaks to the very sick mentality of whoever perpetrated this act. They'll know full well they've done something horrific and made no effort to conceal the body of this beautiful animal despite, in the opinion of the police, removing the head at a different location.
Taking the head, or any part of a badger, is a criminal offence under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 and I encourage anyone with any knowledge of this incident to contact the Hampshire Rural Crime Team or North East Hampshire Badger Group, with that information, even anonymously.
I'd also advise your readers to take a moment to download the Badger Trust's "Badger Watch" app which is a free tool for members of the public to easily recognise, record and report instances of badger crime. This can save crucial time especially when witnessing crime as it occurs. The app is free to download and available on all Android and Apple devices.
It's noteworthy that Hampshire Rural Crime team has noted an upturn in badger crime since the beginning of the spring when these animals become more active above ground following the winter months and encounter cars, people and the perils that come with them".
If you haven't got the Badger Watch app on your phone yet, here's the info you need to find and download it.
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