Badger cull in wales (with updates)

[cedarblue]

'twas on the radio today.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7335855.stm

[eco]

Conservative rural affairs spokesman Brynle Williams AM said the announcement would be welcomed by farmers. "Clearly there will be opposition from wildlife groups to these proposals," he said.
Bright isn't he :rolleyes:

We need to enlist badger lover Johhny Kingdom as a high-profile opponent of the cull.

[kokopelli]

And for ages the Assembly seemed to be ruling out a cull.
They haven't said which area it's planned for yet.
It's outrageous that badgers should be blamed for the diseased state of the average dairy cow. Even Elin Jones, the Welsh Agriculture minister, has acknowledged that breeding for high production has led to stressed, diseased herds. And standing around in shitty sheds all winter is hardly health-promoting.

[Frank]

Badger cull proposals 'rejected'

By Pallab Ghosh Science Correspondent, BBC News

View document here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7489000.stm

If link is lost - please read below:


Badgers have been blamed for the spread of TB in cattle

The government has decided against a cull of badgers in England to control TB in cattle, the BBC understands.

The policy announcement, due to be made next Monday, goes against the recommendations of the former chief scientific adviser, Sir David King. Last year he told ministers that culling badgers could be effective in controlling the spread of the disease.

The decision has angered the National Farmers' Union, which claims cattle TB has already cost the industry millions.

In April a "targeted cull" of badgers was announced in Wales as part of a plan to eradicate TB in cattle.

The Welsh Assembly Government's plan includes a one-off test of all cattle and a review of the compensation system.

It's not practical to carry out that kind of scorched-earth cull over a prolonged period for a policy that may not even work

NFU president Peter Kendall told BBC News that Westminster had "ducked the issue" and that the union would be organising a protest outside Parliament next week.

He added that farmers in England would be "devastated" by the decision.
Some 4,000 herds were affected with TB in 2007, mainly in the south west of England, which was up nearly 18% on the previous year.

The NFU claims that if left unchecked, the disease would cost the government £1bn in compensation and control measures.

But ministers have instead accepted the scientific arguments of the Independent Scientific Group on TB in Cattle.

The ISG's analysis - an earlier and much larger study than Sir David's - concluded that culling badgers would not be economic.

And the Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has in the past also said that public acceptance would be a factor in determining the government's policy.

But Sir David said while he did not want to see badgers killed, the problem remained unresolved.

"In some areas the instance of TB in badgers is very high indeed and there is no policy at the moment for managing TB in badgers, and as long as that continues I'm afraid the epidemic will inexorably continue to spread across the country."

However, the decision was welcomed by prominent scientist Lord Krebs, who designed the experiments on the effectiveness of badger culling for the ISG.

"If this report [on the government's decision] is true then Hilary Benn has made the right decision," he said.

The ISG's analysis showed that sustained culling over a large area for five or six years might have some effect, "but even that is not clear-cut", according to Lord Krebs.

He said: "It's not practical to carry out that kind of scorched-earth cull over a prolonged period for a policy that may not even work."

According to Lord Krebs, the incidence of TB in cattle is increasing very slowly, and he believes that the disease could be brought under control through better surveillance and biosecurity.

Badger groups have fought a campaign against a mass cull.

Trevor Lawson, from the Badger Trust, said rejecting the idea of a badger cull would be the "right decision, based on sound science, which will allow farmers to move forwards in tackling this disease".

"There is no scientific, economic or practical case for culling badgers to control bovine TB," he said, adding that attention should be focused on cattle as "the main agents of the disease".

But the NFU's Mr Kendall said the disease was spreading at an "incredible" rate and needed to be dealt with.

"This is wiping out big chunks of UK farming and is ruining farming families and the rural economy. We need to take tough decisions. It's never popular but the farming industry will be devastated."

He added that the government was failing to show leadership.

"If we can't make difficult, disease-related decisions, based on science, we are in a mess," he said.

In May, a report by badger groups claimed the "virtual extermination" of badgers in the Republic of Ireland had failed to stop the spread of bovine TB.

But the NFU accused the groups of being selective in their use of figures and argued that controlled, selective culling of wildlife around infected farms in the Republic had brought considerable success in reducing the incidence of the disease.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7489000.stm

[Holly78]

Yay! UP YOURS NFU!

[Cumin]

I couldn't have put it better myself Holly.

Thank %^$! for that. Perhaps all our petitions and letter writing helped.

[Andy]

Yay! this is great news

Apparently farmers are furious and are arranging protests.

[bryzee86]

Apparently farmers are furious and are arranging protests.

Toffy sods.

[Holly78]

I couldn't have put it better myself Holly.

Thank %^$! for that. Perhaps all our petitions and letter writing helped.

I am sure they did. It is so great to see something go the right way for a change...although if my MP had had his way the cull would have gone ahead....loser :mad:

[Cumin]

Toffy sods.

Why do you think farmers are Toffs?

[bryzee86]

Why do you think farmers are Toffs?

Well obviously not all farmers are, but those ones in question are so self-righteous that I feel within my rights to accuse them of toffery. And looking at some of the morons on the BBC "Have your say" debate....

[Cumin]

Agreed ,
BBC forums, even those of old (on TV + Radio), have been heavily populated by the self-righteous types.
You've only got to say the words

"Dear BBC, I was disgusted/delighted/deluded to find..."

:-)

[seitan]

it has never been proven that badgers tranmit tb. the government cull badgers just to shut up the dumb f*ck farmers, who ,obviously believe its working.
as for farmers being toffs, id say the minority are, but either way, i hate them.

[bryzee86]

it has never been proven that badgers tranmit tb. the government cull badgers just to shut up the dumb f*ck farmers, who ,obviously believe its working.


Thankfully they're now realising that the thousands killed in the 80s and 90s did nothing to halt or slow the spread. Stupid fuckers shouldn't have taken so long.

[moggy]

Copied from another site

Yes, fantastic news I'd say!! The Government has decided against a mass cull in England. Congrats to Viva, Badger Trust and all the other groups who campaigned against the cull.
Sadly though, a mass slaughter will go ahead in Wales unless we stop it....
From www.viva.ork.uk--

"Going against solid scientific advice the Welsh Assembly have recently voted to allow badger culling to go ahead in Wales. This will be a wildlife massacre of an almost unprecedented scale - and for nothing. The largest report into bovine TB found that badger culling would actually make the situation worse by displacing surviving badgers. It is not too late to try and make them see sense!

Please write a polite letter to Elin Jones AM, the Minister for Rural Affairs (whether you live in Wales or not!):

Elin Jones AM
National Assembly for Wales
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff
CF99 1NA

Or email: elin.jones@wales.gov.uk

using the following sample letter:

"Dear Minister

As a citizen of the UK I was extremely disappointed to hear that the Welsh Assembly has voted for a badger cull in Wales.

This move goes against the advice of the largest ever study into the spread of bovine TB which found that culling badgers would have no meaningful impact on the spread of the disease - and would actually make it worse. The real culprit is bad farming practices. Despite intensive culling of badgers in the Republic of Ireland the proportion of infected herds has remained largely constant since culling intensified in 2002. Whereas, Northern Ireland has virtually halved infection, through effective cattle controls without badger culling. I urge you to follow Northern Ireland's lead and call off the cull - it will achieve nothing, only needlessly cost the lives of thousands of wild animals and tarnish the reputation of Wales.

Yours sincerely"

[hullabaloo]

Excellent! Do you think this will help make them back down in Wales?

[TTstinger]

Disgusting, ill informed, stupid greedy a$$holes...
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/11/04/bid-to-stop-badger-cull-fails-91466-25094480/

[Melanie]

Ugh, what a complete load of sh*te

FFS =/

[The Lurker]

Disgusting

[BrokenStruggle]

I honestly thought it was something they had suggested but would come to realise was an unrealistic and extreme reaction. Really gutted

[helen105281]

Thats just awful.

[DavidT]

Gah. I hate this sort of stuff. Profit - and the meat and dairy industry - come before any consideration of the wider world.

If my dog savages a sheep, the farmer shoots my dog.

If a cow wanders into my garden and ruins it, can I shoot the cow?

No. Not that I would want to shoot the cow but in my case it's my fault for not protecting my garden; in the farmer's case, it's still my fault, even though the farmer doesn't protect his animals.

I hate this blame of animals for just being.

[kokopelli]

Yes Elin Jones and the Assembly Government are just pandering to the prejudices of the dairy industry (as usual). They should take their duty as 'custodians' of the national herd more seriously....at least 40% of the Welsh dairy herd is lame (on average), meaning some herds have even higher levels of basic neglect. Everyone knows that historically TB tends to become endemic in stressed populations. Pembrokeshire farmers should try caring for their animals properly before scapegoating and then authorising mass genocide of another species.

[kokopelli]

The Assembly Government has sent out letters to everyone who owns land in the cull area (North Pembrokeshire) saying that surveyors will be coming to map badger setts, then contractors will be setting traps and returning to shoot all trapped badgers. They have created a whole new set of laws to criminalise anyone harbouring, concealing or protecting badgers or encouraging others to do so. The Badger Trust has applied for a Judicial Review of the decision to cull, so let us hope that will be successful.

[kokopelli]

Please donate to the Badger Trust to help pay their legal fees for the challenge of the government's decision to cull.

http://www.nfbg.org.uk/Content/Home.asp