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Government keen on badger cull

5:00pm Wednesday 27th July 2011 in News Photograph of the Author By Crispin Northey, Reporter for Nailsworth, Minchinhampton and Painswick

GLOUCESTERSHIRE could be one of two counties selected to pilot a controlled cull of badgers in an effort to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis.

Environment secretary Caroline Spelman announced last week that she was ‘strongly minded’ to press on with the controversial move in areas most affected by the disease, believed to be Devon and Gloucestershire.

Nearly 25,000 cattle were slaughtered in England in 2010 because of bovine TB, which cost the country a reported £90 million last year.

It is particularly bad in west and south west England, where 23 per cent of cattle farms were unable to move stock off their premises in 2010 after being affected by the disease.

The pilot culling scheme would be overseen by an independent panel of scientific experts to monitor the effectiveness and humaneness of controlled shooting.

"I wish there was some other practical way of dealing with this, but we cannot escape the fact that the evidence supports the case for a controlled reduction of the badger population in areas worst affected by bovine TB," said Mrs Spelman.

"I know that a large section of the public is opposed to culling, and that many people are particularly concerned about whether it will actually be effective in reducing TB in cattle and about whether it will be humane."

Former Stroud MP David Drew has not only questioned the humaneness of the cull but also its effectiveness.

"All the scientific evidence, of which there is plenty, shows clearly badger culling is not effective in eradicating bovine TB," he said.

"Millions of pounds have been spent, and thousands of badgers already killed as part of a huge survey - but all it showed was that killing badgers did not reduce bovine TB.

"Bovine TB is a huge problem for farmers, so all the more reason not to go for a solution that we know won’t actually help farmers."

Further consultation is to take place and the naming of the pilot areas will be officially announced later in the year.

Comments(2)

Spectrum says...
8:18pm Thu 28 Jul 11

We were promised a science-led solution to a problem that has bedevilled farming for decades. What have the Government offered? A disgraceful botch up more likely to spread TB than to reduce it. The spectre of a hitherto protected animal being subjected to a hail of bullets on the offchance that it will help solve a problem that has its roots in the way cattle are badly housed, ineffectively tested and too frequently moved--spreading disease as they move--shames us all. Research at Woodchester has helped us understand badgers. We know that at worst badgers play a small part in bTB spread. The Government know that, too; but instead of tackling the root causes --instead of imposing much, much tougher cattle movement restrictions,they choose to target badgers to win a few cheap votes from farmers. Just look at the way swine fever--which devastated pig farming--has been beaten: namely by really tough controls over movement and harsh penalties if those movement regulations are infringed. That's what's needed with bTB. Killing thousands of badgers, most of them free of the disease, is a futile waste of time that shames this Government.

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bristleybadger says...
2:50am Sat 30 Jul 11

Spectrum of Kenilworth is right on the money - farmers need to look to their own poor agrictultural practices as to the reason for the spread of BTB. This disease is spread by cattle (and the movement of cattle) NOT BADGERS. What are you going to blame when you've murdered all the Badgers and BTB is still rampant - because that's exactly what's going to happen. Too late to be sorry when the Badgers are all gone because you can't bring them back - and that my friends will be a very sad day indeed.
Do not make the Badger the scapegoat for your bad farming practices - regular yearly testing and the development of an effective vaccine are the only things that will combat BTB. Murdering Badgers and leaving wounded animals in the forest to die in agony will do nothing.
Abandon this illconceived policy - the Badger is a protected animal - and this means the government too has no right to execute them.
NO BADGER CULL - SAVE THE BADGER.Very few people have ever seen a Badger alive - if this goes ahead no one ever will. They are Britains most loved wild animal and need to be protected at all costs.
This reprehensible act will not solve the BTB problem - even the science tells you that.

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