By unlocking the export potential China offers the pig industry, not to mention the red meat sector as a whole, we could gain entry into a marketplace which comprises a fifth of the world’s population.Badger Trust hails cull decision
BADGER Trust chairman David Williams claimed today’s ruling on its judicial review appeal demonstrated the ‘futility’ of culling badgers.
Mr Williams said: “We are delighted with this outcome. We are grateful to all the badger groups and supporters whose donations and encouragement made this crucial legal action possible.
“Scientific evidence about the futility of killing badgers to control bTB remains exactly the same. Although some farmers may see this judgement as a setback, the massive body of rigorously peer-reviewed literature shows that killing badgers can play no meaningful part in the eradication of bTB and that robust cattle measures are sufficient, as demonstrated by evidence that the rate of increase in new TB outbreaks in Wales is already starting to slow. We also hope that the Minister will now adopt a strategy of vaccination as a cost-effective, viable alternative.”
“It is ironical that there is evidence that bTB in Wales – and in the rest of the UK – is declining without badgers being killed, but still the clamour for the deaths of badgers persists in the forlorn hope that such slaughter could ease the serious consequences of bTB. This dreadful disease has been beaten before without killing wildlife”.
He said the judicial review proceedings in April and the subsequent appeal had been ‘enormous undertakings’ for an organisation with only three staff, all part time.
“We have invested our money — our groups’ and supporters’ subscriptions and donations – to support our conviction that the law had to be tested and that the science was right. Although a protective order saved £10,000 the total bill will be well into six figures. That’s a huge sum for us but it has paid off handsomely, thanks in no small measure to our legal team.
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Readers' comments (13)
Anonymous | 13 July 2010 6:46 pm
We are fed up with the badgers coming in our yards and dying of this horrible desease! We are going to have to help them by killing all the badgers in our sets before they are contaminated .
I suppose this should be thanks to the badger trust .
Does anyone know Brian Mays address he loves the dam things let deliver a few thousand to him!!
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Susie Flanders | 13 July 2010 7:16 pm
Good husbandry and vaccination will be more helpful to the badgers - not mindless slaughter. Congratulations to The Badger Trust and to Brian May for their unfailing opposition to the cull.
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Rcihard | 14 July 2010 11:13 am
Farmers will be delighted with the news of recent developments. Scientists have made a huge leap forward with the bovine vaccination programme, plus a rapid test that can distinguish cattle that have been vaccinated against bovine TB, from those that have been infected by the causative agent, the bacterium mycobacterium bovis. This rapid, sensitive test can distinguish BCG vaccines from infected cattle and would allow same day, on farm, diagnosis of TB.
Bovine TB in UK cattle herds, caused by infection with M. bovis, costs approx. £90 million annually, with risks to animal and human health. Therefore, an essential part of any bovine TB vaccination strategy is being able to distinguish vaccinated cattle from infected ones.
Dr. Hope said: The ultimate benefit of accurate diagnosis of the disease would be a huge reduction in the incidence of bovine TB with associated improvements in animal health and improve the economic impact in the UK, and worldwide. It would also improve competitiveness in the farming industry as a whole.
These discoveries were made 6th November 2007. It is now 2010 and the three years required for concluding the findings over. Therefore, this programme should be brought forward and put into operation immediately, as this is now vital for our farming industry as a whole.
The research was funded by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and BBSRC. Research: Institute for Animal Health by Dr. Hope and colleagues Dr. Chris Howard and Paul Sopp. This discovery has led Dr Hope and colleagues to develop a rapid test that would allow same day, on farm, diagnosis of TB.
This will revolutionise the farming industry. It will no longer be plagued with the worrying diseases at present so prevalent.
Since this information is now known, pressure should be brought to bear in bringing this new discovery forward with all haste and made available for use.
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Lesley McNaughton | 14 July 2010 2:32 pm
What is the address of this person who has badgers dying of bTB in their yards. And so the absolute tripe spouted by some goes on, and on, and on.
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Anonymous | 14 July 2010 3:27 pm
Lesley I am afraid this does happen,I know someone who had three dead in their hay house,they couldhave gone had they wanted to,it seems they were too ill to move.It was not known until someone could smell that awful smell,which was a long time after.
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Anonymous | 14 July 2010 4:32 pm
Was bTB the result of a PM? Sounds more like poisoning to me.
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Chris Lock | 14 July 2010 5:31 pm
What good news that the cull has been stopped, clearly this is the way to go and a vaccination must be found which would put an end to all the claptrap we constantly have to endure from the agricultural sector.
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Stripy Badger | 15 July 2010 2:07 pm
I am over the moon with joy now that the backward farmers have been defeated. We now must work to a future without the dairy and meat industry. As for sick Badgers dying in yards I have never seen a sick Badger and I am in contact with them nearly every night.
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Phil W | 19 July 2010 0:56 am
Quote - Chris Lock | 14 July 2010 5:31 pm
"all the claptrap we constantly have to endure from the agricultural sector."
Talking of claptrap..................
Quote - Stripy Badger | 15 July 2010 2:07 pm
"As for sick Badgers dying in yards I have never seen a sick Badger and I am in contact with them nearly every night."
I suppose you are next going to claim that they all talk to you as well ???
Telling you that they are all feeling absolutely fine...but the peanuts you keep feeding them are causing a bit of trouble with wind ???
I suppose when one of these crack pots that spend every waking hour of their time getting "close & personal" with their Badger friends ends up contracting TB...it will have come from those nasty cattle on the farms !!
And when are places like the wiggy twinkles animal hospital going to test Badgers for TB...before releasing them ????
Oh, silly me....they don't have to do they!!
It is only the farmers that have to test their animals before they can move them !!
Bloody hypocrisy to the first degree !!!!
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Anonymous | 19 July 2010 7:02 pm
PhilW:
I live on a cattle and sheep farm in Wales - and no, the farmer who owns the land doesn't want to cull badgers and is quite happy to have them there. Meanwhile I've watched badgers at many different setts for 30 years - and have never seen a sick one, nor one that was suffering from TB. I've never even met anyone (and I've spoken to many many people in Wales on the subject) who has seen one.
I have a good friend whose father is a vet - and no, she's never seen one either.
Secondly, people who rescue and rehabilitate injured badgers (eg Secret World) DO test them for TB before releasing them. A lot more responsible, I hope you'll agree, than those farmers who deliberately kill badgers on their land and risk spreading any TB there is to neighbouring farms.
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