Badger cull debate

[pigeonshooter76]

Farmers have been told a badger cull to tackle the spread of TB will only take place under certain conditions.

 

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committee (Efra) said culling should be given the green light to halt the spread of the disease in cattle in high risk areas.

 

"We must attack this disease on every front before it destroys more cattle, damages more businesses, infects more wildlife, ruins more lives, and costs government and farmers even more money" - Peter KendallHowever the committee said it would not be a suitable method in all areas and could not be applied nationwide.

 

And they warned that there was scientific evidence that "patchy, disorganised or short-term" culling could make things worse.

 

Farmers have been demanding a cull to stop spiralling rates of TB in herds, which the committee has described as "one of the most serious animal health problems" in the country today.

 

However the MPs said licences to cull should only be granted if conditions set by the Independent Scientific Group (ISG) and former chief scientific adviser Sir David King - who have disagreed on the effectiveness of a cull - were met.

 

They include that it should be done competently, effectively, be co-ordinated, cover as large an area as possible and where there are boundaries which will stop other badgers carrying the disease in from outside the cull area.

 

The report said the Government's strategy should include looking at more frequent testing for TB and introduction of post-movement testing in low-risk areas and more effective ways of encouraging farmers to practise good biosecurity on their farms.

 

It said in the long term the aim must be to eradicate the disease through vaccines for cattle and badgers.

 

The Efra committee report warned that with the annual cost to the taxpayer of the disease set to hit £300 million, "further procrastination" by the Government on its strategy was unacceptable.

 

The estimated 300,000 plus badgers in Britain are protected under various pieces of legislation, and culling would have to be have to be approved by the Government and licensed through Natural England.

 

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said on Tuesday that he would study the report and is expected to make a decision soon on whether culls could go ahead.

 

The National Farmer's Union president, Peter Kendall, said with more than 4,000 cases for the first time in 2007, and 28,000 cattle slaughtered, it was time to act.

 

"We must attack this disease on every front before it destroys more cattle, damages more businesses, infects more wildlife, ruins more lives, and costs government and farmers even more money," he said.

 

The RSPCA's director of animal welfare promotion, John Rolls, said: "The evidence shows a policy of badger culling is unsustainable, uneconomic and, as this committee recognises, could even worsen the spread of bovine TB.

 

"There is overwhelming public opposition to a mass eradication of badgers by farmers. Surely to even contemplate such a move is political madness

[Cranfield]

"There is overwhelming public opposition to a mass eradication of badgers by farmers. Surely to even contemplate such a move is political madness

 

There lies the problem in the whole debate.

[al4x]

there is the problem, on a side note plenty of research has been done into their effects on ground nesting birds etc and they absolutely hammer them. But its very un PC to do anything about them as we all know they are too cute and fluffy to be a problem

[new to the flock]

Now this may seem like a stupid question, and before anybody jumps on my back I am in favour of a cull and of controlling numbers through hunting and trapping.

 

Stupid Question:

 

Would it not be feisable to administer a vaccine to the badgers....and yes other animals would recieve it too.....by an arial spread of vaccine bait? This program has been used in an area roughly the size of the uk in Ontario for years to combate raccoon rabies....the strain that makes them very aggressive. This strain of rabies is rampant in New York but has been kept at bay in Ontario. We also vaccinate for the fox rabies...or dumb rabies....at the same time, and have very few problems with this one aswell. Basically it is a very affective program .....hmmmm a government program that works, go figure........where they fly over a grid area and drop vaccine ladden meat balls. the carnivours pick it up and ingest the vaccine.

 

NTTF

[pin]

Get them shot I say

[al4x]

the yanks do, unless in a cage trap you'll want a centrefire though they're tough *******

[bunnybasher100]

When peolpe put these laws into place to protect animals they don't take into account how well they breed, and adapt to situations and they have done that well in about 20 years. As the badger has no natural predator other than the car. it should be down to us as humans to keep the numbers at a sesible level. The law on badgers is hard to get to grip with as it states when badgers are doing damage to crops and livestock a person can be licenced to do someting about this but the licencing body and followers don't issue them. and to insult us country folk which are law going people they carried out a survey last year year to see if all the badgers killed on roads were killed there and not dumped after being shot or posioned. I support the cull not on isses that i don't like them because i do the need to be conroled in a sesible manner.

[njc110381]

I think there should be a mix of culling and vaccination. There are too many badgers and their impact on other wildlife is kept very quiet for some reason. That said, a small time cull would only open up new territories, which in my opinion would cause badgers to move around more and possibly spread the disease. I wouldn't have a problem with shooting them if i could, but only if I believed it would help the situation. I don't think a cull without vaccination would, unless it was done on a stupidly heavy handed scale. I like badgers, and they're not all bad.