New hearing for the badgers: Press release
Since 15 June, badgers in the Morbihan have been subject to hunting right down to the bottom of their burrows, at a time when the cubs are still dependent on their mothers. One Voice, ASPAS, AVES and LPO-Bretagne are calling on the Administrative Court of Rennes to suspend the prefectural order authorising this digging-out until 14 September 2026. The hearing will take place on Tuesday 28 July at the Administrative Court of Rennes at 10am.
Underground hunting, or digging-out, is one of the most barbaric hunting practices imaginable: hours of terror deep inside the burrow, cornered by dogs, before being dragged out with tongs and killed. In the height of summer, the young badgers also pay the price. Still dependent on their mothers until autumn, they are killed in the burrow — or condemned to starve to death once the adults have been slaughtered.
To justify its decree, the Prefecture of Morbihan puts forward an argument that is as convenient as it is absurd: a young badger is deemed ‘adult’ as soon as it is weaned. This ignores the science — a weaned young badger remains incapable of surviving on its own for months — and it ignores the law itself, which has already ruled on the matter: the Administrative Court of Appeal in Bordeaux and numerous other courts have ruled that a young badger is an animal that is still dependent on its mother, and that the law prohibits killing it. Full stop.
Indeed, rulings are coming thick and fast in the same vein: in recent weeks, the courts have suspended the digging-out of badgers in the Aisne, Haute-Marne, Cher and Eure-et-Loir. Every day of victory in a court room means lives saved. The four organisations, represented by the law firm Géo-Avocats, are calling for the badgers of the Morbihan to be granted this protection as well.
One Voice will fight until the digging-out of badgers is permanently banned.
New hearing for the badgers: Press release
One Voice is defending the badgers of the Morbihan in court this Tuesday, 28 July