Badger Baiting
Badger baiting means: hunting dogs are sent into fox or badger dens to harass predators underground so they can be shot outside. What happens in the process escapes public control: underground confrontations, bites, blockages in narrow tunnel systems, severe injuries – for the wild animal and for the dog. A legal opinion by the Foundation Animal in Law concludes: The practice of badger baiting can repeatedly fulfill the criminal offense of animal cruelty under animal welfare law.
Several Swiss cantons have drawn consequences. Thurgau banned badger baiting as the first canton in 2017 by cantonal council resolution. Zurich followed as of January 1, 2023 with a new cantonal hunting law. Basel-Landschaft has fundamentally banned it, with exceptions. Bern decided in 2024 on an extensive ban with narrowly defined exception regulations. The canton of Vaud banned badger baiting as of December 15, 2021. At the same time, motion 23.3303 'Ban on cruel badger baiting' is running at the federal level. The trend is clear – and it can also be applied to cantons that do not yet have binding regulations.
What awaits you here
- What badger baiting is and how it works: Method, process, animals involved and the government council resolution Solothurn as primary source.
- The main problem: Invisibility and lack of control: Why badger baiting takes place exactly where public control is least possible.
- Animal suffering is systemic, not isolated: What the legal opinion by Animal in Law specifically establishes.
- Training facilities: The training industry of badger baiting: What happens to foxes in artificial training burrow facilities – and what the German Animal Welfare Association says about it.
- Current cantonal legal situation: Status 2026 – who has banned it, who hasn't yet, and where exceptions undermine the ban.
- Motion 23.3303: Den hunting as a federal policy issue: Where the federal level stands and why this matters.
- JagdSchweiz arguments and their refutation: Lobby positions fact-checked.
- Demands of IG Wild beim Wild: What a genuine, comprehensive ban would mean.
- What you can do: Action options for private individuals, organizations and political actors.
- Quicklinks: All evidence, court sources, media reports and dossier contributions.
What den hunting is and how it works
Den hunting is a form of hunting in which a so-called earth dog is sent into the den of a fox or badger. The dog penetrates the den – a branched underground tunnel system –, harasses the wild animal and drives it through the passages to the outside. Outside, recreational hunters position themselves around the den and attempt to kill the fox or badger as it exits. This is described directly and bluntly by a government council decision of Canton Solothurn.
Badger and fox are the main target animals of den hunting. The badger is not huntable in Switzerland – den hunting of badgers is fundamentally not permitted under federal law. For foxes, the legal situation differs by canton. Decisive: Den hunting is never a management hunt with proven damage as a prerequisite. It is used as a regular hunting method – i.e., as recreational hunting conducted in secret.
More on this: Hunting in Switzerland: Fact-check, hunting types, criticism and Trap hunting in Switzerland
The main problem: Invisibility and lack of control
Den hunting happens underground. What occurs in the den evades all public control. Contact between dog and wild animal in the narrow tunnel system, bites, blockades, exhaustion and panic states are not only possible – they are structurally probable, because two animals of different species encounter each other in a minimal space without escape possibilities.
Even if someone claims den hunting is conducted 'cleanly': The method structurally produces uncontrollable situations. Dogs get stuck in dens and suffocate – this is not an isolated incident, but a recognized risk that is discussed internally in hunting circles. Wild animals die in the den, injured and without exit. For the public, for independent control authorities and for animal welfare, all of this is invisible. This is not a characteristic that can be remedied with better training. It is the structural feature of a method that operates in secret.
More on this: Hunting laws and control: Why self-supervision is not enough and Hunting and animal welfare: What practice does to wild animals
Animal suffering is systemic, not an isolated case
The legal opinion 'Den hunting under the aspect of animal welfare and hunting law' by the Foundation Animal in Law – authored by Gieri Bolliger, Andreas Rüttimann and Vanessa Gerritsen – is the fundamental legal analysis of Swiss den hunting. It reaches a clear finding: The practice of den hunting can fulfill the criteria for animal cruelty under Art. 26 Para. 1 TSchG multiple times under animal welfare law.
The motion by Casimir von Arx (GLP) in Canton Bern – supported by SVP, EVP, FDP, SP, Greens and Center – states: 'The conduct of den hunts is generally not necessary. Nor can a lasting regulatory effect on fox or badger populations be proven.' The Bernese government council shares this assessment: Den hunting is now rarely practiced, has no comprehensive regulatory effect on populations, and injuries to dogs and wild animals occur repeatedly. It recommends accepting the motion.
More on this: Wild animals, mortal fear and lack of anesthesia and Den hunting – legal animal cruelty in the name of hunting tradition
Artificial earths: The training industry of den hunting
Den hunting has its own training industry: artificial earths. These are artificially constructed underground tunnel systems in which hunting dogs are prepared for deployment in real fox dens. A fox serves as 'stimulus' – often separated from the dog by a grate, but in direct contact with the harassing animal.
The German Animal Welfare Association states unequivocally: 'The use of foxes in artificial earths is to be classified as contrary to animal welfare. When deployed in artificial earths, one animal is trained on another. This violates animal welfare law. Even when fox and dog remain separated by a grate, the procedure is associated with great stress for the foxes, who must also live out their existence in small enclosures for life.' The opinion by Animal in Law states that training earth dogs at artificial earths with live foxes can be 'associated with enormous suffering and fears' for them. A fox in an artificial earth is not training equipment. It is a sentient being that is permanently kept in a situation that structurally generates fear and stress for it.
More on this: Hunting dogs: Between deployment, suffering and instrumentalization and Hunting myths: 12 claims you should critically examine
Current cantonal legal situation: Status 2026
The trend is clear – in one direction: away from den hunting. Current overview:
| Canton | Den hunting status |
|---|---|
| Thurgau | Banned since 2017 (first canton); exceptions possible by department |
| Zurich | Banned since January 1, 2023 (new cantonal hunting law) |
| Vaud | Banned since December 15, 2021 |
| Basel-Landschaft | Generally prohibited by 2020 hunting law revision; exceptions possible with permit |
| Bern | Extensive ban decided; exceptions only with official approval and cumulative conditions |
| Other cantons | No uniform nationwide regulation; still permitted or in grey area in many cantons |
What matters is the pattern behind the exceptions: A 'ban with exceptions' is only as good as its control mechanisms. Where exception permits are granted according to soft criteria, without independent review, the ban can remain largely ineffective in practice.
More on this: Hunting laws and control and Template texts for hunting-critical initiatives in cantonal parliaments
Motion 23.3303: Den hunting as federal policy issue
At the federal level, parliament is addressing Motion 23.3303 'Ban on animal-cruel den hunting'. It is not the first federal legislation on this topic. As early as 2002, bill 02.3737 'Ban on den hunting and improvements in tracking' was submitted. This shows: The den hunting debate is not new. It is repeatedly addressed politically and requires sustained civil society pressure to lead to a binding result at the federal level.
Cantons with hunting-friendly governments can de facto maintain den hunting through exceptions and enforcement gaps, as long as there is no federal law setting clear minimum standards. Motion 23.3303 is therefore politically important: not as a final discussion, but as a pressure instrument for a ban without loopholes.
More on this: Ban on animal-cruel trap and lure hunting (template initiative) and Taking action against hobby hunters
JagdSchweiz arguments and their refutation
'Den hunting is necessary for biodiversity.' JagdSchweiz argues that den hunting contributes to regulating predators that allegedly threaten ground-nesting birds. This narrative ignores that the main causes of species decline – habitat loss, intensive agriculture, pesticides, light pollution – are not addressed by den hunting. 'Biodiversity' is used as a label on an animal welfare-problematic practice whose effect on bird populations is neither proven nor quantified. The Bernese government explicitly states: 'A permanent regulatory effect on fox or badger populations cannot be proven.'
'There is hardly any fighting.' Even where no direct fighting takes place, the method is structurally risky: dog and wild animal in minimal space, without escape possibilities. Stress, panic and fear arise even without direct contact. And: What actually happens in the den is never publicly verifiable. Neither the claim 'hardly any fighting' nor the opposite can be independently verified. That is precisely the problem.
'This is tradition.' Tradition is no justification for animal suffering. Cockfighting, bear-baiting and bullfighting are also old traditions. Modern societies have banned them because animal welfare and social values have evolved. Several Swiss cantons have already taken this step for den hunting. This is not an attack on tradition, it is social maturity.
Demands of IG Wild beim Wild
- Nationwide ban on den hunting without loopholes: Exceptions are only possible in documented, severe emergency situations, under permit from an independent authority and with mandatory effectiveness monitoring – not as a standard hunting tool.
- Ban on training facilities: Any training that uses wild animals as training objects is not tolerable under animal welfare law. This also applies to wild boar enclosures, practice enclosures and comparable facilities.
- Transparency obligation: Public statistics on den hunting operations, granted exception permits, incidents, injured dogs and wild animals as well as follow-up controls.
- Independent oversight: Control by bodies that are not organized close to hunting and have no structural conflicts of interest with the hunting lobby.
What you can do
- Document: Record and report evidence of den hunting operations or training facilities in your region with location, date, photos and signage.
- Write to canton: Demand clear rules – not a 'ban with soft exceptions', but binding conditions, strict criteria and independent control.
- Political monitoring: Follow Motion 23.3303 in the Federal Council and directly contact parliamentary representatives.
- Share dossier: So that den hunting doesn't remain in the dark – literally.
Quicklinks
Articles on Wild beim Wild:
- Den hunting – legal animal cruelty in the name of hunting tradition
- Den hunting dossier: Original article (January 2026)
- Ban on animal-cruel trap and lure hunting (template initiative)
- Arguments against hobby hunters
Related dossiers:
- Hunting and wildlife diseases
- Night hunting and high-tech hunting: How thermal imaging cameras, night vision scopes, drones and digital calls expose the myth of fair hunting
- Hunting dogs: Use, suffering and animal welfare
- Lead ammunition and environmental toxins from recreational hunting: How a toxic legacy burdens birds of prey, soils and humans
- High hunting in Switzerland: Traditional ritual, violence zone and stress test for wildlife
- African swine fever: How an animal disease becomes justification for recreational hunting
- Hunting accidents in Switzerland
- Hunting and animal welfare: What practice does to wildlife
- Hunting and weapons
- Driven hunting in Switzerland
- Stand hunting: Waiting, technology and risks
- Den hunting
- Trap hunting
- Pass hunting
- Special hunting in Graubünden
Our standards
Den hunting is a form of hunting that takes place in secret, underground, beyond any possibility of control. This is precisely why it has been able to persist for so long: What nobody sees, nobody criticizes. The legal opinion by Animal Law has clarified what this method means legally. Several cantons have drawn the right conclusions from this. What is still missing is a comprehensive federal ban without exceptions that would undermine the ban in practice.
IG Wild beim Wild documents the state of the debate, the cantonal legal situation and the arguments of the hunting lobby, so that political actors, media and the public can decide on a solid factual basis. This dossier is continuously updated when new cantonal decisions, parliamentary initiatives or court rulings require it.
Call to Action: Do you know of evidence of den hunting operations or badger setts in your region? Report them with date, location and photos: wildbeimwild.com/kontakt
More on recreational hunting: In our Hunting dossier we compile fact-checks, analyses and background reports.