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A father and son have been fined after pleading guilty to blocking badger setts on their farm and piping car exhaust fumes into the soil to gas to death the animals inside.

David Bown, 67, of Batcombe, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, and his son, Philip Bown, 38, of Henley Grove, Bruton, Somerset, were fined £1,370 each by Yeovil magistrates for offences under the Protection of BadgersAct, the RSPCA said.

They admitted blocking 17 entrances to a sett on Batcombe Vale Farm, then running a hose pipe from their Land Rover’s exhaust into the soil in an attempt to kill the badgers, a spokesman said.

Ian Burns, an RSPCA inspector, said: “This was a very inhumane way to try and kill these poor animals.They could have been trapped underground and potentially suffered a prolonged, slow, death. Badgers are a protected animal and, like all animals, deserve to be treated with compassion.”

Source : The Guardian

To read full article : http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/31/badget-gassing-dairy-farmers-fines?CMP=twt_gu