The below information is from the site of The League Against cruel Sports’;
‘Be one of the million against the cull The League opposes the proposed badger cull on two main grounds. Firstly, a cull would fly in the face of scientific evidence about how to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis, and could even exacerbate the problem. And secondly, authorising a cull would create a new bloodsport by licencing the shooting of badgers for gun-toting volunteers. We are calling for a badger vaccination programme instead of a cull.
Just enter your details below to register your support for vaccinations and not extermination.
We need 100,000 signatures to start a debate in parliament on the issue – but we think that’s too easy so we want a million. Will you help us reach our target?
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Please click on the above link to add your signature.
Written by Liam Raferty of The league Against Cruel Sports on 21 April, 2011 : 17:01
I should begin by explaining why the League is campaigning against the badger cull. There are a number of reasons; we have a long history in badger protection, we are a major landowner in the West Country, we disapprove that scientific evidence is being completely ignored, and we have very serious concerns that licensed culling will simply give a green light to those bloodsport enthusiasts who get a kick from shooting living creatures.
Let’s start with the science. Despite what some may say, any plans for a badger cull completely contradict what the scientists tell us. A study undertaken by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) concluded that vaccination was the best method of controlling tuberculosis in badgers, and that a cull could in fact increase the problem by encouraging badgers to spread into vacated territories – an effect known as perturbation.
However, ministers seem determined to ignore the results of scientific surveys. Five out of a planned six badger vaccination trials were dropped by the coalition government shortly after they took office. These trials would likely have again demonstrated to ministers that a cull is not an effective answer to the problem of bovine tuberculosis.
Even more worryingly, the League fears that a cull would lead to the creation of a new bloodsport. By licensing the shooting of badgers, volunteer bloodsports enthusiasts would be let loose to massacre Britain’s wildlife. And there is no saying what cruelty they may be legally able to inflict while doing so.
Animal welfare is absolutely not at the heart of the proposals to cull badgers. Plans for a badger cull in England and Wales are deeply flawed, deeply unethical, and deeply unpopular with the public. It is high time politicians started to take notice of scientific evidence and public opinion.
Please take just thirty seconds to sign our petition against the proposed badger culls in England and Wales at
You can also download the petition at www.league.org.uk/million and invite your family, friends and neighbours to sign.
Distressing Badger Video: WARNING. This is a link to an extremely distressing badger baiting video where two men set their several dogs upon a lone badger dug up out of its earth and is helplessly mauled . It shows the reality of dogs being set upon a wild animal and the cruelty exposed
WELCOME FOR NATIONAL TRUST VACCINATION MOVE from the Badger Trust Press release 19th April 2011
The Badger Trust welcomes the National Trust’s decision to support the vaccination of badgers against bovine tuberculosis (bTB) on its land in South Devon, although it regrets an earlier National Trust statement that it would not object to culls taking place in areas including its land, where it could be shown all other routes had been explored.The computer modelling by the Food and Environment Research Agency claims that a combination of culling and vaccination was likely to be most effective, except that about twice as much effort and expense was needed than with either measure done in isolation. But the Badger Trust says they are not equivalent. Crucially, the modelling exercise said that low rates of land access for culling, low culling efficiency, or the early cessation of culling could lead to an overall increase in cattle herd breakdowns. All these difficulties would be likely to result from the Coalition’s heavily criticised proposals to allow farmers to shoot at their own expense free running badgers.
The Badger Trust says vaccination is the proven way forward rather than killing, which it emphasises would risk the spread of disease to adjoining land. Because of pertebation it is almost inevitable that in the short term, bTB rates will rise.
Defra research published in November last year said a key finding of the field study, conducted over four years in a population of more than 800 wild badgers in Gloucestershire, was “that vaccination resulted in a 74 per cent reduction in the proportion of wild badgers testing positive to the antibody blood test for TB in badgers.” [1]
NOTE
1. The results of the research has been published on the Defra website and is available at: http://ww2.defra.gov.uk/food-farm/animals/diseases/tb/
http://www.badgerprotectionleague.com/index.php
