When the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) was passed thirty years ago it was a landmark piece of legislation, but according to eg Badger Trust, since it was passed "sentencing related to animal welfare has moved on and there's a glaring inequality for crimes against badgers." Under the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021, anyone committing serious animal cruelty crimes to a domestic animal in England and Wales can face prosecution with up to five years in prison. Similar animal cruelty committed against a wild badger can only be given a maximum of a 6-month prison sentence under the Protection of Badgers Act. The campaign is calling for tougher sentencing to protect badgers. It wants to: Extend the maximum sentence for convictions under the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) from 6 months to 5 years, bringing it into line with Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021. This means offenders would be faced with a 5-year sentence for the abuse of a badger, in the same way as they would for the abuse of a dog used in the same crime. Make badger persecution notifiable to the Home Office, so that the real level of crime can be accurately assessed, reported on, and tackled. At present wildlife crimes are not recorded in this way and there are no official national statistics. Increasing sentencing would, by default, make a crime under the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) a notifiable offence.