Badgers saved in England, but not in Wales
Going against solid scientific advice the Welsh Assembly have voted to allow badger culling to go ahead in Wales, despite the leaked announced from DEFRA that badgers in England will be spared. This will be a wildlife massacre of an almost unprecedented scale – and for nothing. The largest report into bovine TB found that badger culling would actually make the situation worse by displacing surviving badgers.
Please write a polite letter to Elin Jones AM, the Minister for Rural Affairs (whether you live in Wales or not!):
Elin Jones AM
National Assembly for Wales
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF99 1NA
Or email: elin.jones@wales.gov.uk
using the following sample letter:
“Dear Minister
As a citizen of the UK I was extremely disappointed to hear that the Welsh Assembly has voted for a badger cull in Wales. Especially as England has now decided against a badger cull.
This move goes against the advice of the largest ever study into the spread of bovine TB which found that culling badgers would have no meaningful impact on the spread of the disease – and would actually make it worse. The real culprit is bad farming practices. Despite intensive culling of badgers in the Republic of Ireland the proportion of infected herds has remained largely constant since culling intensified in 2002. Whereas, Northern Ireland has virtually halved infection, through effective cattle controls without badger culling. I urge you to follow Northern Ireland’s lead and call off the cull – it will achieve nothing, only needlessly cost the lives of thousands of wild animals and tarnish the reputation of Wales.
Yours sincerely”
July 9, 2008 at 6:34 am
Demonstration in Colwyn Bay outside the Welsh Assembly Office, 2pm Saturday 26th July
The delight with which the news that Hilary Benn had rejected a badger cull soon turned sour with the news that Elin Jones from the Welsh Assembly still proposes to go ahead with a cull in Wales. Hilary Benn’s decision was based on the results of a ten year study costing the tax payer £50 million which concluded that a cull of badgers would in the long run make a bad situation worse.
Elin Jones has based her decision to cull badgers on a three day review by non-expert former Government chief adviser Sir David King.
If you are outraged by this unscientific cruelty please join the demonstration organised by North Wales Animal Rights in Colwyn Bay on Saturday 26th July at 2pm outside the main Welsh Assembly Office at Princes Park, Princes Drive, Colwyn Bay, North Wales, LL29 8PL. There will also be gathering on the promenade at around 3pm for a prayer delivered up by the Rev James Thompson.
Welcoming the reports of Hilary Benn ruling out a cull in England, Trevor Lawson, for the Badger Trust, commented
“A decision against a badger cull would be the right decision, based on sound science, which will allow farmers to move forwards in tackling this disease.”
“There is no scientific, economic or practical case for culling badgers to control bovine TB. The most robust research, by the Independent Scientific Group, concluded that culling can make no ‘meaningful contribution’ to TB control. No-one has presented a robust case to challenge that view. Professor Sir David King, who last year claimed that culling could make a contribution, considered ten years-worth of evidence for just a day with a less expert team. And he failed to consider the costs or practicalities of badger culling.”
“Attention must be focused on cattle, the main agents of the disease. The challenges are substantial. We need better and more frequent cattle testing. The current test misses around one in three infected animals. Around 70 per cent of cattle are never tested for TB in their lifetimes. Animal Health [formerly the State Veterinary Service] needs to record the disease on computers rather than on paper and infected cattle need to be removed from farms in day rather than in months.”
Welsh Assembly Member would do well to take note. Mass slaughter of these popular animals at great expense and with no benefit will prove to be immensely unpopular and politically damaging.