20-05-2010 Badger cull: no “new” politics…

Animals Count calls upon the new Government to stop the badger cull in England and Wales (ostensibly to control Bovine tuberculosis (TB)), a which has been announced announced today (Thursday 20 May 2010) as part of the Convervatives and Liberal Democrats’ coalition agreement statement. The coalition agreement suggest that the new Government will “introduce a … science-led policy of Badger control”, but a badger cull would be against all of the scientific evidence which has never demonstrated a link between wild badger populations and the incidence of Bovine TB (in fact, exactly the opposite: the imposition of “population control measures” on wild badger colonies results only in an increase in the case numbers of Bovine TB in those areas. See the study results in Nature here).

We strongly urge the Government to rescind this thoroughly unnecessary and cruel policy of badger killing and instead demonstrate its alleged commitment to a “new” politics by resisting the unscientific lobbying pressure of the farming industry.

It is for the Government to act in accordance with its own fine-sounding words and respect the unambiguous evidence of the detailed scientific studies which have been undertaken showing no causal relationship between badger colonies and Bovine TB; and it is for the Government to respect the law and ensure that all wild badger populations remain protected by law. No exceptions should be made to this law simply to protect the alleged interests of the livestock industry, an industry which already receives very substantial financial subsidy from the public purse and which would be better advised to examine more critically the poor welfare and health support systems for animals on the country’s farms.