Sign petition on badgers

Here is a petition set up by the RSPCA who were shocked at the recommendation put forward by the Government's Chief Scientific Advisor, Sir David King, which suggests a cull of badgers in England should be undertaken in order to control bovine TB in cattle. The Glos Green party also issued a statement - see news release from last month here. We also contributed to the original consultation and were active in trying to raise awareness re this issue.

Sir David's advice goes against the conclusions of the Government appointed Independent Scientific Group (ISG) on cattle TB, published in June, after a 10 year study. Their conclusion was that while badgers are a source of bovine TB in cattle, badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain. The evidence was that some culling policies could make matters worse rather than better.

The badger is a protected species and a much loved symbol of British wildlife. A cull could cause enormous suffering, particularly as it is possible that methods such as snaring may be used to 'remove' these beautiful creatures.

The government are due to make a decision in the next weeks on whether to go ahead with a cull of badgers as a means of controlling bovine TB in England. We cannot allow this to happen.

Photo: Green party action last year in Stroud High Street - it was very cosy in that costume!

Help the RSPCA reach their target of 25,000 petition signatures. Forward this petition to everyone you know. Add you name to our text petition too - text BADGER to 60022. The petitions will be presented to the Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP as a sign of public opposition to a cull. For further information on our campaign to stop the cull of badgers visit www.rspca.org.uk/badgers

An interesting way of viewing matters comes from a local badger expert Martin Hancox - see his graph and thoughts here plus more here on the Stop War on Badgers website.

Many people are very angry about the idea of a cull. Indeed I've had several angry emails and SchNEWS report that badger groups nationwide have vowed to take direct action. A spokesman for the the Coalition of Badger Action Groups (CBAG) said: “We took action against the experimental culling in the South West - we were out nine months of the year, chasing MAFF (Ministries for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries - now DEFRA) from their base in Truro. We obstructed them, dismantled traps and freed trapped animals...destroyed 70% of the traps. Direct action will continue – but we’re going to need numbers if they roll this programme out across the whole country.”

It is extraordinary to propose a cull - the ISG findings were summarised by John Bourne – the group’s chair when he said: “While badgers are clearly a source of cattle TB, careful evaluation of our own and others’ data indicates that badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain. Indeed, some policies under consideration are likely to make matters worse rather than better... Scientific findings indicate that the rising incidence of disease can be reversed, and geographical spread contained, by the rigid application of cattle-based control measures alone.”

Pretty unequivocal you might think....so why the cull? To me it is partly to divert attention away from the increasingly intensive nature of farming...as SchNEWS write: "The modern farm animal is a hothouse flower, overbred and pumped full o’ drugs for maximum meat and milk production using all the latest ‘advanced’ veterinary techniques. After a lifetime of overstocking, this animal is then trucked around the country for sale and slaughter. In human beings, TB flourishes amongst physically and psychologically compromised individuals on poor diets and with inadequate housing. This is a fair description of life in cattle sheds and milking parlours. During winter months, cattle are kept in overcrowded, often badly-designed barns, conditions in which infectious disease spreads. The persistent focus on badgers distracts from the serious health problems faced by intensively managed cattle in Britain. Many other diseases, such as pneumonia, E. coli, coccidiosis (a fatal diarrhoea), salmonella and mastitis, are also increasing in British cattle herds. Desperate to defend their highly subsidised agri-business practices, farmers turn time and again to blaming the wildlife."