CAMPAIGNERS have spoken of their horror after a female badger was found killed by a wire snare.

The badger was discovered on the Sandsend Road near Dunsley, Whitby, early on Sunday morning by a woman on her way to feed her horses. Its throat had been severed by the AB Country Products wire snare, which can be used legally to trap animals like foxes - but never badgers.

The woman reported the grisly finding to Jean Thorpe, who runs the Ryedale Rehab animal sanctuary which cares for sick animals before releasing them back into the wild.

"This was a really distressing case," she said. "It looks like the badger had been suckling young this year too.

"The badger will certainly not have had a quick death - the wire encircles the animal's throat and the more it struggles, the tighter it gets. It really is horrendous."

Another dead badger had been spotted at the same place a few days earlier, with its throat slit, but was removed shortly afterwards.

Signs of snaring include patches of ground that have been scrabbled away by the animal as it struggles to free itself from the ever-tightening grip of the snare.

"These traps are legal for foxes," said Ms Thorpe. "But if you know what you're doing and you set them lower down, on a badger's head level, it is very easy to catch one. It is totally illegal, and whoever has done this must know that.

"In this day and age, there cannot be any need to murder something so horrifically. Whoever did this should be utterly ashamed."

Anyone with any information on the incident, or any other examples of illegal snaring, should contact North Yorkshire Police on 0845 60 60 247, Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, or the RSPCA on 0300 1234999.