Thousands more badgers than planned could be killed if the government gives the go-ahead next week to raising the target number of animals in certain areas, experts say.
Until now, official policy has been that culls aimed to reduce badger numbers by 70 per cent within in each cull area and across most of southwest England.
But The Independent understands that ministers are preparing to allow that target to be raised to 100 per cent in “exceptional” circumstances, subject to a consultation.
I assume this is to try and please dairy farms. In the hope to start an argument between them and animal welfare folks. To try to win votes from the farmers.
Farmers do have a point. When TB hits an area. Detecting it in one cow. Can result in the whole herd being destroyed.
While there really is no possible way to keep cows in a healthy (non battery farm like) manner. And prevent local badgers with TB from leaving contagens (pee poo etc) in the field they feed from.
Places like the cotswilds. That have huge legal restrictions on the rights to build. Make it absolutly impossible to buold fences to block access. And in most other UK areas. Its difficult amd bloody ugly to surrond a field with non passable fencing for a badger sized animal. Unlike foxes and chickens. (And they are hard enouth for farmers to protect). Badgers are very effective tunnelers whoes sets can runn for 100s of meters underground.
And cows require huge fields to be healthy comparednto chickens or any other farm animal.
The cotswilds has had TB detected most years since the begging of covid. And many farms have lost entire herds etc.
So the dairy farmer are definitely desperate in serching for some solulution.
And if we are honest are more likely to vote tory anyway. This looks like a way to bring them back after the crap job the gov has done in genral.
And use the anger of many animal welfate folks who in genral are much less likely to vote tory. No matter what the heartless incompetent nasty party dose.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Thousands more badgers than planned could be killed if the government gives the go-ahead next week to raising the target number of animals in certain areas, experts say.
More than 260,000 badgers in England – over half the population - are thought to have been killed since culling began in 2013, as the government has sought to eradicate tuberculosis in cattle, which is costly for farmers.
He said: “If the exception is just a badger with bovine TB is found or trapped within say 1km of a farm, it could just become the new normal to cull every year over wide areas.
“They went in and shot 1,115 badgers - all of them - but could not then attribute change in TB rates to culling as seven farms were quite clearly reinfecting themselves because of the failed testing regime,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Our approach to disease control continues to be informed by science and deploys all tools at our disposal.
“We are moving to the next phase of our strategy which will focus on wider scale badger vaccination – but as we clearly set out in the 2020 Godfray Review response and subsequent consultation and response in 2021, culling remains an option where epidemiological assessment indicates that it is needed, alongside other measures in our bovine TB eradication strategy.”
The original article contains 513 words, the summary contains 229 words. Saved 55%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
