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Badger Trust: Operation Meles

8 September 2011
From THE BADGER TRUST

POLICE WILDLIFE CRIME SUPREMO TO LAUNCH NATIONAL BADGER TRUST CAMPAIGN
Coordinated meetings nationwide from September 20th

Operation Meles* is an intelligence-led UK-wide police operation gathering evidence of badger persecution and targeting offenders. For the first time national statistics have been compiled by the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) and a full report on reported badger incidents has been compiled.

A coordinated series of public meetings and press conferences later this month will not only expose the cruelty badgers suffer, but also the need for the proper recording of wildlife crime in general.

The national launch meetings will be in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland [1]. The formal launch will be at Sheffield on September 20th, and there will be a further meeting for England in the East Midlands. These centres are at the heart of badger persecution with many of the perpetrators travelling long distances in gangs to commit offences. The dogs used in baiting are bred to be fearless and spurred on to attack, often suffering horrific injuries themselves.

The Badger Trust is delighted that the Association of Chief Police Officers lead on wildlife crime, Mr Richard Crompton, has agreed to chair the keynote meeting in Sheffield on 20th September 2011.  Mr Crompton, who is Chief Constable of Lincolnshire, will also deliver the opening address. South Yorkshire has been chosen for the national launch because it is particularly affected by crime against badgers and other wildlife.

“Badgers are not only cruelly baited but also sealed in setts and buried alive, snared, shot, poisoned and tortured, but most of these crimes go unreported”, said Mervyn Anthony, the director of the Badger Trust who leads on persecution in England for the Trust. This new report reveals only the tip of the iceberg and we are appealing for the public as well as our own badger group members and supporters to record and report any evidence. Each of the meetings will feature an illustrated presentation showing appalling injuries to animals, digging in progress, and the known extent of reported crime”.

The Badger Trust is distributing, through the nationwide network of badger groups, special Operation Meles  witness evidence notebooks  to ensure that evidence of incidents is quickly, correctly and consistently recorded. There are also posters and leaflets.  All are on the Trust’s website www.badgertrust.org.uk.

More

Ian Hutchison**, UK Crime Prevention Lead for Operation Meles, has written a report “UK Badger Incidents 2009-2010” [2], exposing the known extent of badger-related incidents in the UK, based on data compiled by the NWCU. He said: “Through Operation Meles, police, animal protection and welfare charities have joined together to present a united front in the fight against badger persecution. But there is a further dimension to animal crime: the perpetrators are frequently found to be involved in other kinds of serious criminality, sometimes on an international scale.

“But in the end we need public vigilance to ensure that all incidents are reported to the police so that, despite stretched resources, they can be investigated, offenders prosecuted and the informants told of the result”.

[1] Venues for meetings:

Tuesday September 20th

ENGLAND - Sheffield:  National launch meeting. 11 am at ‘The Venue’, Manchester Road, Stocksbridge, Sheffield S36 1DY. 0114 283 8692.

SCOTLAND - Glasgow: The Lighthouse, 11 Mitchell Lane, Glasgow, G1 3LX. 0141 221 6362.  Keynote speaker ACC Hamilton, Strathclyde Police.

NORTHERN IRELAND -Belfast:  Stormont Castle, hosted by Alex Attwood, Environment Minister.    

WALES - Cardiff: The Cardiff Marriott Hotel, Mill Lane, CF10 1EZ. O2920 399944.

Wednesday September 21st

ENGLAND - East Midlands: (Leics, Notts, Northants, Staffs and Warwicks) Field Head Hotel, Markfield Lane, Markfield, Leicestershire, LE67 9PS. 01530 245454.

 

The Trust’s part in Operation Meles is led by:
Ian Hutchison**, the Operation Meles UK Crime Prevention Lead and a former police officer, 01356 624851;

Mervyn Anthony the Trust director who leads on badger persecution in England, 0845 828 7878.

Badger group members involved are:
Sandra Dudley, a director of the Badger Trust, 0845 828 7878;
Steve Clark, Wales, a director of the Badger Trust, 01291 626068;
Peter Clarke, Northern Ireland, 02892 682767;
Monica Ward, chair of the South Yorkshire Badger Group which produced the leaflet on persecution in the Doncaster area, 07722 590 184;

Jean Thorpe, chair of the Ryedale badger Group who runs Ryedale Rehab to rescue and treat injured animals, 01653 695124.

Key professional support is being given by;
Geoff Edmond**, National Wildlife Co-ordinator for the RSPCA, 0300 1234999;
Pc Gareth Jones, North Yorkshire Police, 0845 6060247;
Amanda Clayton, Wildlife Crime Officer for South Yorkshire Police, 01142 202020. 

[2] Available at www.badgertrust.org.uk

*Meles meles is the taxonomic name for the Eurasian badger
**Name check – Hutchison, Edmond

BADGER TRUST MEDIA SPOKESMAN:

Jack Reedy   01564 783129    0775 173 1107

 

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