TWO brothers who set their terriers on a badger have been given severe sentences by magistrates.

Dean Jones, 27 and Dale Jones, 25, both from Sturry, each received a five- month suspended prison sentence, 250 hours community service and were ordered to both pay costs totalling £4,000.

The pair had been convicted of attempting to injure a badger, making the dogs enter the sett, causing unnecessary suffering to the dogs and abandoning them.

During the trial, magistrates heard how a landlowner found the men in the woods in Pennypott Lane, near Mystole, in August, last year, and ordered them off his land.

The dogs were left behind and he called the police who attended with the RSPCA.

Two of the dogs, which are all now in the care of the RSPCA, had suffered bite injuries to their faces and throats.

For full story, see Thursday's Kentish Gazette