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    5. BADGER CRUELTY/CULLING

    Badger persecution is an issue of particular concern in the U.K. Its most common form is badger baiting, a form of hunting in which people dig into badger dens — called setts — and set their hunting dogs on the badgers, or have the dogs burrow directly into setts to attack the badgers in their homes. Even the government is getting in on the act. With badgers carrying a strain of tuberculosis that also affects livestock, government-sanctioned cullings have been instituted, much to the outrage of some animal-rights activists. Recently, PETA named musician Brian May their Person of the Year 2012 for his work speaking out against badger culling. (Human Society International)