News
5th November 2009
Welsh Assembly members voted in favour of trapping and killing Badgers in part of their campaign to eradicate Bovine TB by blaming Badgers for the spread of the disease. Votes against were cast at 9 votes to 43.
The five year trial cull will start in around about April when they consider the latest youngsters or cubs have weaned from their mothers.
Many farmers of course have welcomed the news.
After reading out letters from opponents to the cull, Elin Jones even admitted that there was evidence to support that intensive farming methods and bad husbandry caused the disease.
The more sane action would be to tackle this as the true problem for the occurance of Bovine TB, than trying to eradicate 80% of a wild animal population.
24th March 2009
The new push for a Badger cull is to kill 1000 badgers by trapping in cages and shooting them. Regardless of whether they are infected or not, the Badgers will be shot and killed.
Scientific consensus is that TB cannot be controlled in this way. This has been shown in Southern Ireland, where Badger culling continues without significant effect on TB numbers still occurring in cattle.
TB in cattle is a cattle problem. Through poor living conditions, low level nutrient levels within many farmland soils and pushing cattle beyond their capabilities to sustain high level milk production. Cattle are having their whole immune system taken to the limits where they are open to infection and developing disease such as TB.
Politically though this cannot be admitted to. In an attempt to appease some rural communities and the Farmers Union, Elin Jones caves in to political pressure and now wishes to pursue once more a barbaric practice.
19th August 2008.
The petition set up at Number 10 re: Stop-badger-cull - petition. Details of the petition were:-
“A government-appointed Independent Scientific Group announced - after a decade of research - that killing badgers will not reduce bovine TB and could make matters worse. 30,000 badgers have been destroyed since 1975 in an attempt to curb the disease. Despite virtually exterminating badgers from 4 counties in Ireland, TB remains a problem in those areas. Dairy cattle are selectively-bred to produce up to 60l of milk every day; and 10% are ‘zero grazed’, whereby 100s are packed in sheds with concrete floors and go outside only in ‘loafing yards’. Bovine TB flourishes in these conditions. Its spread was accelerated by the countrywide movements of untested cattle - against scientific advice - following the mass slaughters associated with BSE in the early ‘90s and then foot and mouth disease some ten years later. Modern animal farming places a burden on animals. The consequence is disease and suffering. Killing badgers will not make this reality go away.”
The petition ended after the English parliment decided against a Badger cull within England to control Bovine tuberculosis. It is to be recognised that it has had to some degree a part in the decision against a cull within England.
Excerpt from the Goverments response:-
On 7 July the Secretary of State announced Defra’s policy will be not to issue any licences to farmers to cull badgers to prevent bovine TB. The Secretary of State has decided that we need to put our effort into strengthening our programme of research to develop cattle and badger vaccines and plan for their deployment. £20 million will be invested over the next three years in developing usable cattle and badger vaccines.
Full copy of the oral transcript can be found here
It must be stressed that this does not apply to Wales, the Welsh Assembly is still insisting on a pilot culling scheme on Badgers. Please keep those protest letters and emails rolling in.
7th July 2008
Parliment have decided that there will not be a cull of Badgers within England. They have rejected the idea that it is a viable form of controlling Bovine Tuberculosis. Full story.
Meanwhile the Welsh Assembly still has plans to go ahead with the proposed pilot culling of Badgers in the Autumn of this year. The area is yet to be decided.
10th May 2008
The Badger Trust decided to take the immediate step through their solicitors to seek formal permission of the High Court to bring a judicial review proceedings against the Welsh Assembly for the decision to commence with a Badger cull to be quashed.
Full article can be found here as a PDF file on the Badger Trust Site.
24th April 2008
The call for a Badger cull could stop consumers purchasing Welsh produce. Some animal groups are now calling for a boycott of Welsh beef products and dairy products. Other consumers may even go further by boycotting all Welsh goods as well as Welsh holidays.
The totally unscientific way in which the Badger cull is being thrust upon the countryside, with total disregard for up to date evidence that shows it will have no effect upon bTB within the Welsh herd, is making many people very angry with the Welsh Assembly and could well cause an extreme backlash to the whole Welsh economy.
Read this News article by Lorraine Barrett AM.
Report by the Daily Post on the possible effect on Welsh tourism.
8th April 2008
Elin Jones AM Rural Affairs Minister announced today that there would be a limited Badger cull experiment somewhere within Wales. The actual area has not yet been decided.
This move has been made regardless of the scientific study in 2007 that announced that evidence did not exist that showed a cull would be effective in anyway.
In fact evidence to the contrary is abundant. Northern Ireland has controlled Bovine T.B solely due to a more proactive T.B testing program in cattle and controlled cattle movements. Whereas Eire in the south who practice Badger culling has a rising Bovine T.B status!
It has to be questioned why this kind of evidence is being totally ignored? Is a political agender behind this?
More to read on this story.
28th February 2008
At the NFU's 100th Conference, Hilary Benn states that a 10 year scientific study showed that a cull could not meaningfully contribute to controlling Bovine TB.
The NFU and farmers present still demand the cull of wildlife rather than change their failing farming practices.
Read more on this report.