A BBC WALES investigation exposing badger baiting in Pembrokeshire is set to air tonight (May 22).

As part of a six-month investigation, BBC Wales infiltrated two gangs, uncovering a network across south Wales.

This is the first time in over 30 years that a group of badger baiters have been infiltrated in this manner, revealing the reality of the brutal blood sport. Secret recordings show two men pull a badger cub from the ground, setting dogs on it then killing it with a spade.

Others were filmed illegally digging a sett in Pembrokeshire, including a convicted badger baiter who is banned from keeping dogs.

The Protection of Badgers Act 1992 bans people from injuring, killing or taking the animal or disturbing their setts, yet hotspots of activity were found in Wales and the English borders. The cruel treatment of the dogs were also revealed, with one member of the group claiming to have shot dogs that failed to act as he wanted.

Veterinary physician Mike Jessop, an expert witness for dozens of animal welfare prosecutions, said: “The dog is just another working tool. They’re just thrown down holes, they’ve got to do their job. If they’re not doing their job they become a useless commodity.

“This is the classic blood sport activity that we all thought had been brought under some sort of control – this is showing clearly it hasn’t.”

RSPCA special operations unit head Ian Briggs described how there was ‘a particular problem’ with badger baiting in Wales, saying that this was due to the ‘remoteness and the ease of which they [badger baiters] can carry out their activities’.

The Ministry of Justice reported that 13 people across England and Wales were convicted in 2016, with four of those in Wales. Yet police forces are not required to reveal badger baiting investigations or outcomes to the Home Office, resulting in the scale of badger baiting being unknown.

Despite this, information collated by charities suggested there were 18 reports of badger baiting in Wales over the 17 months ending in 2017 with four reports of dug badger setts.

Sue Hayman, Labour’s shadow environment secretary, said: “If we’re going to genuinely tackle something we need to know the extent of the problem and the only way we’re going to properly know the extent of the problem is to record it effectively.”

Mr Briggs went on to say that prosecutions were reliant on the RSPCA getting ‘information from friends, family, neighbours, who are aware of what these people are doing’.

The BBC Wales investigation also revealed a convicted badger baiter that had been boasting on a closed Facebook group dedicated to Patterdale terriers about setts he had dug up and his breeding of puppies for hunting. The man denies all allegations, including ownership of dogs and hunting for badgers.

Exposed: The Secret World of Badger Baiters is on BBC One Wales at 10:35pm tonight (May 22).