FEARS have been raised that Mole Valley's badgers are in danger of suffering a cruel death for "sport".
Police are warning residents to be vigilant after two men with a spade and a dog were interrupted by a resident as they tried to interfere with a badger sett in the Westcott area last week.
Fortunately, the men were disturbed before any animals were harmed, but Mole Valley residents are being urged to look out for similar activity in the area.
"People do it for a number of reasons: sometimes it's ignorance, sometimes it's because they want to capture the badger and sometimes they want to immediately put a dog to the badger and see who wins," said PC Mark Trezise, Mole Valley rural affairs and wildlife crime officer.
"A badger will nearly always beat a dog, so they usually do something to the badger first like break its legs or something. It's quite an obscene activity."
He continued: "This is the first dig I have seen for a while.
"We had an incident where we think someone was just trying to get their dog out, but the law is quite clear: if a dog gets trapped underground in a badger sett, you have to wait 48 hours with the sett under supervision and then get a licence from Natural England before you can go in."
Ray Ings, chairman of the East Surrey Badger Protection Society, said he was very concerned about the recent incident.
He has also given advice on how residents should react if they see any suspicious activity. "It will be someone with a spade and a dog," he said.
"Usually there will be at least two people but not always.
"The dogs will usually be terrier-type dogs and it normally happens in the daytime because badgers are nocturnal so tend to be out of their setts at night.
"If they are planning to take a badger away for baiting, they will also have a bag with them.
"If anyone sees anything like this, they should know this is a criminal offence so it is appropriate to call 999."
However, Mr Ings has urged people to avoid being detected as those who interfere with badger setts can be "very violent".
He continued: "Try and arrange to meet police officers somewhere to take them to the sett.
"In this day and age with mobile phones, if it is possible to get any kind of footage without putting themselves in danger, then of course that is very helpful. It is also worth trying to writing down the details of any vehicles waiting nearby."
Councillor James Friend (Con, Westcott) is Mole Valley District Council's portfolio holder for environment.
He said: "All residents, especially those of Westcott, who may be out walking should be vigilant for this and any other unpleasant rural behaviour.
"Mole Valley is the type of area where people should be able to go out and enjoy the countryside without the threat of things like this going on."
