WIVES, girlfriends and female family members could hold the key in the fight to end badger baiting.
The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) is urging women to come forward if they suspect their partners of being involved in the illegal bloodsport, which is on the rise north of the Border.
The charity says the majority of people involved in the activity are men, and their families only become aware of what they are doing when they bring home badly injured dogs.
Instances of badger baiting – where dogs are set on badgers in a fight to the death – have been recorded across the country, most commonly in Dumfries and Galloway, Ayrshire, Glasgow, Lanarkshire and the Borders.
Scottish SPCA Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn said: "The general public is widely unaware that badger baiting still goes on today because the people involved manage to conceal their activities very well. That's why we want to speak to the people who are close to the perpetrators because they are the often the only ones who will ever be exposed to this dreadful crime."
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