I have real worries about the badger cull. I’m not pretending that my anxiety can be as great as those farmers who are suffering when they lose their cattle to bovine TB, but I fear that the cull could make things worse. See previous comments here, here and here. We have made detailed considered responses to the Government on this issue over a number of years.
The situation is volatile with rumours that the cull might be postponed or the pilot culls might start very soon. If they do go ahead, I am concerned at the risk of trouble. Let me be very clear about this. The RSPB is opposed to the cull but we do not support the intimidation of farmers who are carrying out a cull under licence. It is difficult to see how you can have a safe protest in a situation where firearms are being used, especially at night, so whilst we appreciate anyone’s right to legally and peacefully protest we urge people to consider their safety, and the safety of others, and not interfere with culling operations.
There are other ways you can show your opposition to the culls. The first of these is through the Government e petition, anyone opposed to the cull should sign this petition, if they have not done so already. Already over 150,000 people have signed and many have been asking what else can they do. The petition should result in a debate in the House of Commons, which could happen as early as 25 October.
We hope that this is an informed and searching debate. There are still many questions about the effectiveness, practicality and impact on the badger population of the pilot culls and the projected programme of control in the future. Here are three key questions that we think MPs should be asking:
It will also be important for government to ensure that concerns over biosecurity are addressed and that the red tape that is currently preventing cattle vaccination from being used in the UK is removed as swiftly as possible.
If you want to get in touch with your MP about the debate you can find out who they are and how to contact them here.
What are the key questions you think MPs should be asking about the badger cull?
It would be great to hear your views.
Culling is a negative approach especially as our scientific achievements allow us to vaccinate instead of kill. By all means we are British, therefore I oppose the culling of wildlife.
The biggest flaw with this cull is that it will actually kill a whole load of badgers that don't have the disease (only a modest proportion of them carry it, even in the hotspot areas) and the cull will stir the badger population up, increasing the proportion of badgers that have it, potentially making the situation in cattle worse rather than better. OK that's several problems!
The detailed and costly surveys that the Government has recently carried out in the pilot areas has turned up more badgers than the original predictions and costings. That assessment showed that the cull would cost farmers more money than it would save,these new figures show that it is going to be an even more expensive mistake.
In addition, the pilots are not set up assess key aspects of the cull in time to make intelligent decisions on rolling out the cull to further areas. There will be no assessment of the level of badger movement (perturbation) caused by the cull, no assessment of the number of badgers that carry the disease either in those that are killed (just to embarrassing to record how many are TB free?) or the disease load in surviving badgers and the assessment of the number of cattle breakdowns will take years to determine. I don't see how the Government could claim that any expansion of the cull was based on science from the results of two pilots without much more information.
This is a very risky shot in the dark. I feel our farmers and our badgers deserve a lot better.
The culling of bovines in South Africa to stop Rinderpest in the 1960's was a TOTAL FAILURE. Culling of badgers will be no different! Culling of wildlife does nothing to stop the spread of disease.
Vaccinate the "Poor little mites?" Have you ever seen an angry badger?? Rather you than me!
I've just sent a donation off to try to prevent the slaughter of migratory birds in Malta. How can we say to the Maltese 'Stop this slaughter' when we are doing the same with Badgers in the UK?
Stop the cull and treat the poor mites, as you do with humans! This government is a joke, call for a vote of no confidence..OUT OUT OUT!