Badgers need your help!

Sunrider and any others who believe farmers are culprits in spreading BTB,please note the above makes that all but impossible.

Sunrider please explain why you would rather believe untruth put out by Steve Jones than what is actually the truth and DEFRA rules.Believe me anyone would be in serious trouble if they did not obey these rules.

Whatever any ones opinions are about the BTB problem it would be nice if everyone accepted the fact that these rules mean that farmers are not culprits in spread of disease.

Ian,understand your dislike of word I used about S J rant but this proves the word used is correct,at least lets stick to facts that are correct,I understand that general public are liable to make mistakes by lack of detailed knowledge but someone telling deliberate untruths and others believing it when evidence is overwhelmingly the opposite is rather silly.

Have stated many times I like badgers and have no agenda against them but it would be nice if badger groups and everyone respected the fact that the above rules mean farmers are not culprits in spread of BTB.

Just as important I would say no farmer wants the disease in his/her herd anyway and would go to great lengths to keep it out of herd.

The ear tag identifies the calf

What is a cattle passport?

A holiday in Spain may not be on the cards for dairy cows, but that doesn't mean they haven't got passports.

The document is unique for each cow and can trace the animal's mother, place of birth and any movements throughout her lifetime.

Knowing where the cow comes from helps the farmer manage her more efficiently.

Each animal has to have a passport and as I understand it and what used to happen was the passport consisted of a series of cards that each movement had to be notified on a card and sent to cattle movement records agency.

further proof farmers contrary to Steve Jones untruth that farmers spread BTB,this is just another measure that prevents that happening.

Ian,think I have given you more than enough evidence of what I described S  J rant as was indeed a accurate description.

Why come out with so many untrue things only the lord knows,maybe he craves a place in the papers where unfortunately the public without detailed knowledge believe him.

I do recognise that many farmers for one reason or another are unhappy about the cull,maybe they have reservations about it working,maybe compassionate towards badgers      and I really respect those farmers but they are the ones with true reservations and are not coming out with untruths like S J whatever his reasons may be.

Sorry you folk taking action by not drinking milk and maybe other things but I will tell you milk is probably the most tested thing for human consumption on the planet and has in the past helped seriously in stopping diseases like Rickets,there is in all likelihood more nasty things such as additives in replacement products,check the label maybe I am wrong but I doubt it.Certainly my guess is Soya milk probably has a degree of G M crops in it.

Fail to see how you see them as the enemy,it is said each outbreak costs that farmer £10,000,they are bound to be desperate for a solution.

Think I have had to say too much to prove so many things wrong and will now keep off as if lots of you want to believe a load of rubbish from Steve Jones rather than rules/law from DEFRA then so be it and if my proving that his rant is rubbish gets me kicked off forum then so be it also.    

www.bbc.co.uk/.../uk-england-19760652

137,484

rhodopsin said:

The FaceBook petition is currently 82 for and 499 against.

I know it is a low count but overwhelming somewhat.

Richard

https://www.facebook.com/questions/10151170744179035/

Now 87 for & 550 against

Hi RSPB Mods.

Is there any way this thread could be made a "sticky" post.

If it happens to drop off the front page new members or others may miss the opportunity to vote or vent.

Richard

Richard,that is very good,if they all put £10 into a pot that would be £1,374,484 and surely mean they are serious.

That alone would buy 68,724 doses of vaccine,allowing the offer of a alternative to the pilot cull.

Getting another 200,000 signatures  all giving £10 would allow buying another 100,000 doses of vaccine

Thanks for all your comments over the weekend, it has certainly been interesting reading through the mixed opinions around this proposed cull.

Richard, I will make this a sticky again as requested as it is still a very pertinent conservation issue. Please also take the time to have a look at the sticky thread here as we have a real chance to improve the laws that protect our wildlife.

A couple of things I would like to add to the discussion that might be of interest. Firstly a study here to show that biosecurity measures can be deployed effectively to farms to minimise badger/cattle interactions. Secondly, a recent discussion in the commons suggests that cattle to cattle transfer is still an issue potentially of equal concern to that of badger to cattle transfer and the government are seeking to further tighten controls.

Quote below extracted from full discussion here

"Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of TB herd breakdowns his Department estimates result from cattle-to-cattle transmission; what steps he is taking to reduce that proportion; and what assessment he has made of the efficacy of those measures. [119336]

17 Sep 2012 : Column 490W

Mr Heath: Modelling work using data from the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) indicates that approximately 50% cattle cases in the RBCT areas could be due to infection from badgers, suggesting that 50% of cattle infection could be caused by cattle to cattle transmission in the infected areas of the country. In the low incidence areas of England the majority of bovine TB breakdowns are caused by cattle to cattle transmission, due to cattle movements from the infected areas. The breakdowns in the low incidence areas represent, however, a small proportion of national breakdown numbers—less than 2% of all cases, nationally.

We have a wide range of cattle surveillance and control measures in place, including routine testing of all herds, slaughterhouse surveillance, pre-movement testing, removal and slaughter of infected animals, herd movement restrictions and tracing of animals moved from infected herds before disclosure of infection. These cattle measures will remain the foundation of our bovine TB eradication programme. Recent strengthening of them has included enhanced controls on some high risk herds, improvements to slaughterhouse surveillance and reduced compensation payments for owners of affected herds with overdue tests. There are plans to introduce further improvements to control the geographic spread of infection and to enhance risk-based approaches to cattle trading."

Clearly we all want a solution that doesn't lead to the mass destruction of the populations of a native mammal and does lead to healthy cattle. From all of the information now available on this issue, a vaccination scheme seems like the logical step to take to reduce the badger to cattle transmission, as it doesn't pose the risk of perturbation which is a real threat if culling does go ahead. Support for vaccination is well documented, we're doing it, the Badger Trust are doing it and so are the Wildlife Trust, plus the Welsh government are doing it after opting against the cull option on the basis that the science suggests vaccination is the way forward.

If you do get any answers to the questions on my last post from your MP's we would love to see them!