Police have said it is illegal to take badgers home after a balding cub was found without proper food in a family’s kitchen in Lincolnshire in May.
It has been illegal to “take a badger” for the last 50 years, with offenders risking prison or a fine of up to £40,000.
Det Con Aaron Flint, of Lincolnshire Police, said the male cub had been fed on tinned food and had lost its fur after being kept in “squalid conditions”.
He added: “When I went and took him, he got himself into the sleeve of a dirty-looking fleece. I have no doubt had I not seized this badger it would have died.”
Ally Foyster, a member of the Lincolnshire Badger Group, which is caring for the animal, told the BBC: “Sometimes people take them overnight because they think they’re cute, they think they’re cuddly, they sit and have them on their knees – but they don’t give them a drink, they don’t give them anything to eat.”
Badgers “can inflict severe bites” and should not be approached, according to Dr Rebecca Machin, the scientific and policy officer at the RSPCA.
She added: “Badgers are one of the most persecuted animals in the UK, despite being legally protected. They need all the help they can get, and the public has a vital role to play.”
The Badger Trust warned that “wildlife can suffer at the hands of well-meaning people who attempt to rehabilitate animals without the necessary knowledge, facilities or experience”.
A spokesman said: “Although people’s intentions are often good, badgers have very specific welfare and rehabilitation requirements.
“Without the appropriate expertise, attempts to care for them can inadvertently cause additional stress, compromise their welfare and reduce their chances of a successful return to the wild.”
The RSPCA advised people to call its 24-hour helpline and keep a reasonable distance if they found a badger in need of help.
Last week, a 16-year-old boy in Poole, Dorset, was convicted under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 after he filmed dogs killing a badger. He admitted to wilfully killing the animal, and Weymouth magistrates sentenced him to a six-month referral order and fined him £400.
In April last year, two men interfered with badger setts and were found with a dead badger. Sion Davis and Gwynli Edwards were handed 16-month sentences, and Davis was ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid community work. The pair were ordered to pay costs totalling £4,960.