A BADGER cull protester claims his dog was viciously attacked while on a wounded badger patrol in woods near Rodhuish.

Ziggy the German Shepherd (pictured) needed veterinary treatment for a cut paw and grazed thigh after his owner said he saw two figures holding on to him following a confrontation on farmland.

Ziggy's owner had travelled to West Somerset from his home in Cornwall to try and prevent badgers from being shot in the trial cull.

He said he had been using night vision equipment when he saw Ziggy struggling to escape from two people who had apparently been hiding in the undergrowth.

The owner, posting on the Cornwall Against the Badger Culls Facebook page as "Danny Badger" said: "We had let Ziggy off the lead as there were no animals nearby and he is very well behaved in order that he might try to shelter [from the rain] in a hedge

"The first that we were aware anything was wrong was when we heard him make a sound somewhere between a bark and a growl.

"We both immediately turned our night vision in that direction and saw two figures who appeared to be holding onto him while he struggled.

"I instantly called him to me, at which point he yelped very loudly, growled again and came back to us limping very heavily on two legs."

Danny said Ziggy had suffered "a very deep slice" on his forepaw and his thigh appeared to have been shaved and grazed.

He was taken to the vet the next day for treatment - with some of the costs for his care covered by an online appeal launched by fellow anti-cull campaigners.

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Constabulary confirmed the police were aware that a dog had been injured near Rodhuish last Tuesday.

But they did not say the animal had been deliberately attacked.

The spokesman said: "We attended the location and saw the dog which had a cut and a graze to a paw.

"It is unclear how the injury was caused and at this stage we believe it's possible it was caused by barbed wire or local undergrowth.

"We spoke to the owner and they were going to take their dog to the vet and contact us again if they wish to report the incident."

Danny said he had been "overwhelmed" by the support given to both him and Ziggy following the incident.

"I don't think 'thank you' even begins to convey how grateful we are, but I don't know any other words that would say it.

"So thank you. Thank you to everyone who donated so generously and for all the support and well-wishes we have received since returning home," he said.

l Separately, police said only three people had been arrested in connection with the cull and, so far, no-one had been charged.

A man in his 50s had been held for a public order offence and two people had been arrested and cautioned for assault – a man in his 40s and a woman in her 60s.

The force did not say if the trio had been local people or whether they had been supporting the cull or the patrols against it.