Government vet attacks TB policy

In a rare intervention by a state vet ahead of a possible decision on a badger cull this summer, the vet said most of their colleagues working in hotspot areas were equally ‘frustrated’ by lack of any policy to tackle the infection in wildlife.

The vet, who asked not to be named, said there was also ‘support’ for farmers within the state veterinary service, now known as Animal Health, over the introduction of table valuations for cattle and the pre-movement testing (PrMT) regime.

“Badgers are having an extremely significant impact on the spread of bTB,” the vet told Farmers Guardian.

“In some areas like Leicester you get the occasional TB breakdown caused by cattle movements, but in our endemic area and many others there is no question that badgers and to a certain extent deer are the main source of infection.

“It is extremely frustrating that we know what the problem is but can do nothing about it.”

The vet dismissed suggestions that a cull could make the situation worse by ‘perturbing’ infected badgers and creating new breakdowns outside the culling area.

“Of course badger culling can work. The badger lobby are absolutely crackers to say it won’t. A week ago they were saying culling hasn’t worked in Ireland – well it clearly has.”

They said key was to implement a ‘comprehensive’ cull of infected setts over selected areas that ensures infection is virtually removed within the local badger population. It is important to ensure the empty setts are cleared of M. bovis infection, so incoming badgers stay clean, they added.

State vets also support farmers on the issue of tabular valuations and PrMT, the vet said.

“We are all dealing with cases where farmers are receiving a fraction of what their animals are worth. It is compromising disease control as farmers are not testing as much as they were because they don’t want to find TB.

“I would say all the vets in my office are behind the farmers on the compensation issue.”

The vet said there was ‘absolutely no point’ in PrMT, which involves a lot work and expense and causes stress and damage to animals, if disease is not being controlled in the wildlife population.

“If you control the wildlife population then, yes, be thorough with cattle testing. But there’s absolutely no point in constantly testing, constantly killing and getting a pittance for cattle when we are getting nowhere with this disease – in fact, we are going into reverse in many areas.”

The vet said there was ‘widespread disenchantment’ among state vets about TB policy and that it was ‘terribly frustrating’ that they were banned from speaking out on bTB. “Some vets are quite happy to lie down and wait for their pension but I am not,” they said.

These comments add to the pressure on Ministers coming from the veterinary industry on this issue. The British Veterinary Association, which represents private vets, published a policy paper last summer calling for a ‘holistic’ approach in hotspot areas, including culling badgers.

In February 2005, a group of 420 mainly private and former state vets wrote to then Defra Secretary Margaret Beckett calling for a cull. The man behind the letter, former MAFF vet Dr John Gallagher, said their sentiments were widely shared by working state vets.

“From the contacts I have, there appears to be complete exasperation at a totally failed policy that they are having to live with. They are taking the rap, which they find unpleasant.”

Government chief veterinary officer Debby Reynolds, asked why state vets were banned from speaking out, said: “Civil service code governs individuals. We don’t expect them to speak out, we expect them to get involved.”