Scum

The dogs ( Albert is somewhere in there ) after their early morning walk lie in

Early morning and late night walks are mostly uneventful affairs. Having said this is it is common for us to get a glimpse of one of the many badgers that criss cross the field on a regular basis.
Last night a large badger sow trotted off with the body of a black Orpington  which I had left out at the bottom of the field. The Orpington had collapsed rather theatrically after strenuously laying an egg yesterday morning and even though I generally have a love/ hate relationship with the Badgers, I always recycle deaths from the Ukrainian village in this pragmatic way.

Strangely enough, I noted this clip of news on the BBC website yesterday
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-30795071
"Two men who attempted to injure and kill badgers from a sett in Flintshire have avoided a prison sentence.
Leighton Shiers, 19, and William Chrystal, 24, of Liverpool, pleaded guilty earlier this month.
They were arrested after being discovered by police at a field in Trelawnyd, near Holywell, last April. 
Shiers and Chrystal were ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work and pay £300 costs each at Flintshire Magistrates' court on Tuesday.
The defendants were arrested and terrier dogs were seized along with a Land Rover, shovels and a a GPS locator collar, which is worn by dogs sent underground to find badgers.
Three other people at the scene ran off and have not been traced.
The pair's mobile phones were seized and showed images of terriers at a badger dig with injuries to the face and others appearing to attack a badger."
 

Photos taken from the convicted men's phone

This sort of behaviour makes me sick to my stomach.
Not only can I not understand the pleasure a person gets digging a wild animal out of its den in order to kill it, but why on earth would anyone decent put their own pet terriers in harms way putting them up against a creature that could snap a foreleg in one bite?
These men are scum


43 comments:

  1. I really can't see the fun in it either. These people have to be mentally ill, but that doesn't stop them from being scum.

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  2. hang them both from a lamppost in trelawynd as an example to others. no mercy for animal abusers!

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  3. Totally agree with you John. Though I hate the revolting wild pigs we have here in Oz, the thought of putting dogs in danger hunting them for fun amazes me !

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  4. The one on the right just looks like a young kid - where on earth do they learn this behaviour - is it there from birth?

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  5. We have a couple of badger sets near to us. There is an unwritten "law" around here that exact site is never revealed or talked about.

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  6. You're right...your terriers look comfortable enough, though!

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  7. Sweet little bed full of dogs

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  8. Anonymous12:13 pm

    Bad man on the left. Corrupted kid on the right, who could be salvaged from his most horrible path ahead. As I would guess you know, kids that get involved in this sort of thing go on to much worse later in the lives.

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  9. Have you read "The Sett" by Ranulph Fiennes, John? Horrifying and, I think, a true story, because some of the names are familiar to me from years ago when the main 'character' was brought to trial.

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  10. Yes I agree with you John. Dreadful :(

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  11. No words. Scratch that. Plenty of words but not many of them very ladylike!!

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  12. Gosh, a few hours community service a a laughable fine, I expect badger murderers everywhere are quaking in their boots....

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  13. ……monsters not men!!!!!

    We don't have badgers here, but raccoons and opossums come to the garden at night sometimes. As much as I don't like them - they eat our birdseed, try to get in trash cans etc. - would never kill them Have had to have some raccoons removed by the city animal control - they take them to the countryside……..at least that's what they tell us!

    Your adorable babies look so comfortable.
    Mary -

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    1. I hear you!! Deer are the bane of my garden's existence, but I live in the country where they were first so we find a nice, uneasy balance. My hostas have been sacrificed more than once, but it is not the end of the world.

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  14. Future serial killers. How lovely.
    Over my lifetime, I always though that when some people behaved like this it was because somewhere in their insignificant lives, they misinterpreted the passage in Genesis where God says rule over animals. Whether they read the bible or not does not matter. I have heard people justify bad behaviors towards certain animals based on the idea that humans are more important than animals. Tells you a lot about some folks.

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  15. I totally agree with you! Unfortunately, it looks like all they got was a slap on the wrist.

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  16. Anonymous1:32 pm

    I can't imagine sending those poor dogs down to face a badger.

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  17. I love Badgers, but, being realistic, I am aware that many don't. In the past I have had to 'put-down' Badgers that I'd found caught in snares. SCUM is too good a word for these people; some of whom are my fellow villagers.

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  18. The punishment and fines should be much harsher. As my Dad used to say "hit them in the pocket where it hurts". £10,000+ fines might be more of a deterrent.
    Jean
    x

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  19. The kind of story that rattles around my brain for hours, sometimes days, afterwards.

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  20. Just can't understand why they would see fun in torturing animals, the gits.
    When people justify such things (and fox hunting) as a way of keeping down the population, I think using vicious dogs or chasing on horseback is not a humane way of dealing with the situation, it's just cobblers and there is absolutely no justification.
    Twiggy

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  21. I often read your title and mentally conjure up what the blog is about. Today, I thought you would be talking about cleaning the bathtub. It caused me pain to read your article - I shudder to think of the poor terriers confronting a badger. Scum, yes, sick, very sick too!

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  22. What the hell is wrong with people! Scumbags.

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  23. Love how Winnie's wrinkles blend with the bedding...

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  24. I know of several dogs with parts of their faces chewed off by badgers. As you say, why would you put your own dogs in danger?

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  25. If there is anything below scum, they would qualify. I say, let's set them down there - barehanded - to dig out the badgers. I'm rooting for the badgers.

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  26. Scum, exactly. Can't say what I'd like to happen to them.

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  27. As others have said, people who would do this will do bad things to their fellow man as well. And children brought up in those households can hardly help but follow in their footsteps, ensuring we will always have this behavior in the world.

    Your picture of the furry ones is a welcome antidote to the topic. Didn't see Winnie there until I read the comments noting how well she blended in :)

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  28. I don't understand the mentality of people who enjoy casually killing innocent animals. I doubt if the very feeble penalty will deter them from doing more of the same in the future. They'll just take extra precautions to avoid being found out.

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  29. At least they caught them. In the country, people kill whatever animals they don't want on their property; squirrels, coyotes, even birds. There are federal laws against such things, but most never get caught. Horrible. Where is the sport in that?

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  30. You're right - complete scumbags and the do-gooders let them off with a fine of £300 - bet the fines will never be paid neither xxx

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  31. You are right. These cruel nobodies are indeed scum. Why not contact Flintshire Magistrates and say you have some unpaid work for Shiers and Chrystal to do - digging over Bosoms and spreading well-rotted manure over the area.

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  32. I'm afraid many young men that age are scum. Not sure what to do about that.

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  33. Horrible !
    I am sad to say we have too many scum like that here.
    Until we start really prosecuting scum like this it will not sink into to there frazzled brains that this is bad.
    A fine " WTF !

    Thank you for the scum of furry goodness.
    plus I have a photo of scotch eggs on my blog today.
    cheers, parsnip

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  34. No arguments here either. I really, really cannot understand the concept of hunting for fun. Fun out of other being's pain and death? Sick. And the hunters are almost always very, very safe. Hiss and spit.

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  35. Thanks for All of your comments...I'm all scummed out!

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  36. I'm late to the party, so shall only add butt-crack scum. The worst.

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  37. I despair of humans sometimes - such a fucking barbaric species. Frankly I think scum like this should be hunted down on horseback with poisoned arrows. Let them see how they like experiencing pain and fear.
    There is a huge difference between hunting for food and torturing animals. The penalties are nowhere severe enough.

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  38. Agree with you on this. And what in the heck would someone do with a dead badger anyhow? Are they just killed for no reason at all? Ridiculous.

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  39. I think they should be dragged out of their houses and set upon by badger lovers!!

    Scum is almost too polite a word for them :-(

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