Badger Cull

[jazzy_dave]

Oh and talking of our uncaring government here is another stupid policy, the Badger Cull. Here is a precis from my bro's blog.

http://abulldoginbrighton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/our-badgers-are-dying.html?spref=fb

"Despite the best efforts of Network For Animals, Team Badger, and thousands of motivated people around the UK, the 2014 badger cull finally began last night, Monday 8th September.

Over the next six weeks, up to 1876 innocent badgers will be shot by government employed marksmen, either trapped in cages that could have been used to vaccinate them, or fired upon from up to 70 metres away while meekly foraging for food.

Parliament voted in April by 219 to 1 that the culls should not continue. Public opinion is firmly against culling. Majority independent scientific opinion suggests badger culling could make bovine TB worse. And hundreds of thousands of us have spoken out, time after time.

I listened this morning on the radio to Elizabeth Truss, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, uttering the same verbal diarrhoea that we used to suffer from Owen Patterson and no doubt spoon-fed to her by the NFU. The blind arrogance of these people is overwhelming.

In May 2015, the United Kingdom will elect its next government (with or without Scotland). The general election is now the vehicle for change that we must embrace. A pledge to end the badger cull will need to be written into any political manifesto that expects my support.

I trust that you feel the same."

http://abulldoginbrighton.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/our-badgers-are-dying.html?spref=fb

They will have my support too.

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Here in Wales the Assembly Government decided not to cull badgers and instead opt for more frequent testing of cattle to quickly identify problem farms and vaccinate badgers against TB. Currently, we can't vaccinate cattle due to EU legislation. Vaccination means that tests can't easily distinguish between vaccinated cattle and those which actually have TB. However, a quick Google suggests that vaccination trials may take place. I'm sure farmers would prefer that than having to slaughter their animals, though as you say, some farmers just like to look for an easy scapegoat.

[kabuldur.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your informative reply.

Yes, here they test for TB, too, as well as innoculate. And pasturise the milk so that we ant get it by drinking contaminated milk.

And it's the government, not the farmers, who are putting out all the bad publicity about bats. Well, a few horse owners complain if fruit bats are roosting in the trees above where they yard horse, but that's only a few cases.