People who take in an injured badger could be endangering its life, according to police.
Lincolnshire Police issued the warning after wildlife officers seized a badger cub from a family kitchen, where it was “living in squalid conditions”.
Det Con Aaron Flint said the male cub had been fed on tinned food and had lost a lot of fur.
He urged people to do their research before taking in an injured animal to avoid causing more suffering.
Flint said the cub was seized by officers in May and “was in really awful condition”.
“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.”
The animal is now being cared for by the Lincolnshire Badger Group, which is affiliated with the Badger Trust.
Ally Foyster, a member of the group, said “Mr Baldie”, as the cub has been named, was recuperating well.
“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,” she said.
“That 24 hours that person has that badger can be vital.”
Volunteers at the centre are keeping human contact with the cub to a minimum as it will be returned to the countryside as soon as possible.