Out of 100 badgers that were killed on the roads, that we tested. NONE OF THEM HAD TB. I have been part of badger releases and they are all VACCINATED. They are given 3 injections before they are but back to the WILD. One more thing, I thought the badger was a protected wild animal. When, and Who, decided that they would change the rules.!!!

Unlike 'Dairy Farmer' 3/11/10, you have expressed an opinion very similar to mine. Debate is important, especially in this case, so that we all become aware of both sides of the picture and if anyone else wishes to stop this slaughter, please ensure you send your views to the politicians by completing the Consultation Document. Brian May has an 'easy to use' version of the consultation form on his site and from November 10th 2010, www.savethebadgeralliance.org will be up and running. It really is important to give your views through this consultation as THEY WILL COUNT and we only have until the beginning of December to lodge our opinion.
yvonne anthony

I am bewildered by the multiple previous comments which try to paint the badger as a rampant overpopulated species (notably doing this instead of addressing the bTB issue).

I too live and work in the countryside and can tell you that I have personally seen dozens of dead badgers on roads and lanes within a few miles of my home. And that's in an area with a reasonable number of setts, but certainly not the hoards that desperate pro-cullers would have you believe. To argue that the populations are unchecked is therefore a complete nonsense. Just because they don't have any 'predators' does not mean populations are out of control or there are no other factors reducing numbers.

None of the RTAs I have inspected have been diseased or ill I might add - these are animals knocked over clearly in great condition (rather ridiculing the 'overpopulated and disease ridden' argument on the head).

As for blaming the badger for everything up to and including the decline in the bumble bee - farcical!

Such wild and hysterical accusations only suggest to me that those who are in favour of a cull, can't make an argument based on science (which would be because the rigorous independent scientific study did not support culling as a feasible method for controlling bTB) or sense.

Vaccination is clearly a really encouraging way forward for bTB. It's to be hoped that the majority of intelligent right minded people from all perspectives can unite behind it.

The idea of the cull is to cull badgers only in areas of the country where there are reoccurring cases of TB in cattle, known as hot spots,and not throughout the UK and where there are only a few random cases.Targeting those that are likely to harbor the disease.
TB is a horrible disease which is like a slow drowning of the lungs with fluid turning into a white puss.
Because of the testing on farms no cows die or ever get near this state of suffering,unlike badgers that are out of view and are only post Morten tested .
A vaccine is useless on a infected Animal but could be useful in clean ares to prevent a spread ,but as a vaccine is only about 60% affective and needs to be administered annually so sadly its affect would be limited.
The term Bovine used for this strain of TB is very unhelpful and misleading as it affects many other spices ,such as Lammas, Alpacas,pigs ,sheep and potentially the most worrying Dogs & Cats which live in houses with Humans another species that can be affected by this strain of TB.
If you don't believe the above, DEFRA have the official figures & information,you just need to dig out to find it.

hi there,i just wanted to say that i dont think there is any need atal for a badger cull,i travel to work every day and i see so many dead badgers and other animals on the road,even this makes me feel ill let alone killing something for the sake of it,there is no proof that badgers spread tb,i think this is just a way of hiding the truth which is they enjoy seeing things suffer,it is sick and they are to,please dont let this disgusting act come back.debbie.

Debate is important without it a lot of people will never have the facts from both sides, then they can make up their own minds. I, for one, am not the sort of person who is able to take all the emotion out of it, I feel privilaged to live on this earth, with a responsibility for nature, we should ensure that when we depart, we leave this world in at least the condition into which we were born and hopefully better.
I live in an area where the cattle and badgers are free from infection but that doesn't mean they are safe. If they happen to be in some ones license to kill area of about 24 square miles, they won't stand a chance. I have to fight for them as no doubt you would/or do, fight for your animals.Several have complained about badger numbers, no-one has complained about the increase in humans and the amount of land we humans have taken over from the wildlife so that we can live where they did.

Now, I want some help PLEASE !!!
If the unthinkable happened and the government decided to cull/kill badgers by cage trapping and then shooting them. I understand that it would probably be the responsibility of the farmer and/or (if applicable)his marksman/shooting person, to dispose of the body.
Has anyone any idea how and where disposal would take place and who will be checking? And, if the government were to issue licences to shoot free running badgers, probably at night, how can we be certain that the badgers body will be collected and disposed of properly, and again, who is going to check?
If the farmer was really unlucky and one of the very few bTB infectious badgers were shot, and it was not disposed of properly, several scavengers (Corfids, rats, foxes etc.,)would in turn become infectious from eating the meat.
and WE WOULD HAVE CREATED A NEW SOURCE OF INFECTION !!!
The answer must be "DON'T TAKE CHANCES - DON'T SHOOT THE BADGERS" !!!
Yvonne Anthony

This is what happens when uninformed hippies are allowed to vote.

Is anybody else fed up of this debate and arguement. Quite frankly this issue should have been put to bed and resolved years ago but instead is still rumbling on. Now a "debate" (war) is ensuing between two very extreme poles and views, with each simply trying to score points of each other often bringing old, irrelevant information and emotion into the arguement. The simple answer is that the two sides need to work together and this will involve compromise on both sides to change what is a pathetic situation we are currently in. In this current position there are no winners only losers and escalating problems. TB success will only come if Conservation, Agriculture and the wider countryside work together and as one pull in the same direction. Pulling in opposite directions only leaves us in the same position.

Why oh, Why. Again,! our native badger is under a terrible THREAT. The badger is the most persecuted wild animal in ENGLAND,a land I thought, of animal lovers.!! Yet again,some people and the government wish to CULL the badger. Which they did already from 1998/2007. Which proved nothing .An in some areas made things WORSE. In that time they SLAUGHTED 10600 badgers and less than 1000 of them were infectious.!!That is less than 8%..It is utterly unacceptable to attempt to solve a MAN-MADE problem by KILLING our native badgers. We can NOT let this Tragedy happen. To CATCH,CAGE,and SHOOT the badgers, However You try to dress this up is SLAUGHTER.!! When there is the vaccination programe which could be used. Who thinks these things up in government,it would be a FREE for all around some areas." Shooting at night time."!! I thought MPS were intelligent people,well who ever thought this one up sounds like an IDIOT to me and lots of other people. Its an absolute DISGRACE.!!!!

Arlene completely misunderstands the paper in the Veterinary Record which she chooses to quote. This refers to areas of the country where bTB is not endemic. For a more balanced view on the subject rather than the rantings of the anti cull lobby, go to the BVA website and read their policy on bTB. True, in many cases tb is spread from farm to farm by cattle movements but the link between wildlife reservoirs and bTB is incontrovertible in other areas. There is a huge amount of scientific evidence to link the badger with bTB. The word culling is used rather emotively: it's population control that is needed, not an anti-badger campaign. I think that history will judge the anti cull lobby (and a weak government more interested in public opinion that science based policy) harshly for obstructing whilst British farmers are seeing their livelihood destroyed, at huge public cost as well. The solutions are not easy, and badger population control needs to be done sensitively, humanely and scientifically but why is it right to protect every last badger when we are killing 50 thousand cows a year. Where is the balanced view in that?

Giving absolute protection to a species that is at the top of the food chain is a recipe for disaster. There is no shortage of badgers at all and the law was brought in to protect against baiting, which has not been curtailed one bit. The baiting scum are still at it.
I do not farm in a TB hotspot, but still believe for the sake of other wildlife that IS in decline, like ground nesting birds and bees, there should be a countrywide cull. The numbers of badgers on my farm are unsustainable.
The trouble is, the experts in the large animal and bird charities know this but it would not be prudent to tell the truth to their donors!!

Anyone who lives and works in the Countryside will know that the population of Badgers is out of control.

They are not only a reservoir for TB but are responsible for wiping out ground nesting birds and Bumble bees as they take eggs and nests.

They also kill Hedgehogs and in our area they are nearly extinct. There has to be a balance in nature for the benefit of all species.
It is no coincidence that the last place a rare Bumble bee was found before it became extinct was at Dungeness, that was also the last area that Badgers colonised in Kent. Similarly there are still many successful species of ground nesting birds on the Isle of Sheppy, there are no Badgers there!

I sympathise with the farmer whose livelihood is threatened by Bovine TB, but where is the proof that badgers are to blame? Today I came across the following report by the British Veterinary Society from 4 years ago. This extract of the report states that of the 31 herds studied, in all but 1 of those the Bovine TB outbreak was traced back directly to bought-in stock. This is not 1 isolated case - it is a study by the BVS of 31 cases! We know that the control measures for testing and movement of cattle are not stringent enough to prevent cross-contamination by infected stock, and yet our government is willing to kill thousands of badgers just to see if it works?

I read this week that the incidence of Bovine TB in dairy cattle is twice that in Beef herds. If this is correct, why? Is it because dairy herds spends more time indoors; eating, defecating, and breathing where they stand? I don't know - but there seem so many more likely sources of Bovine TB than just badgers, that to kill them without proof is an act of stupidity.

At the Wildlife Rescue Centre in Somerset called 'Secret World', many rescued/orphaned badger cubs are taken in each year. Each badger cub is tested 3 times by the far more reliable system of blood testing (not the skin test carried out on cattle). Any cubs found 'positive' are euthanased. The 'Positive' rate is less than 2 in a thousand cubs! I am not sure what that tells us, but it's a statistic worth noting - bearing in mind that these cubs come from the Bovine TB hotspots of the South West Counties.

You can read the British Veterinary Society's report here:
http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/159/9/265.abstract

The best thing that anyone can do if they are against the proposed badger culls in England and Wales is to send a response to both consultations. The following websites will allow you to download the necessary documents and give you advice on responding (PAC) or direct you to other organisations' websites which will do this (Badger Trust):

www.pembrokeshireagainstthecull.org.uk
www.badger.org.uk

I live in West Wales, just on the edge of the Intensive Action Area (the Killing Fields for badgers)and I can tell you that things are pretty dire here, with divided communities and for many of us a complete loss of faith in the integrity of the consultation process. Last year's 'consultation' was marked by a rejection of around two-thirds of the responses, for reasons which were never made clear. We hoped that the High Court judgment might be a lasting victory but no, the Agriculture Minister and her veterinary sidekick have come back with more of the same, so we have had to pick ourselves up and join battle once more.

As far as the 'referendum' on this website is concerned, people should be aware that there will probably be a veritable blizzard of voting in support of a cull from members of the farming community and the farming unions. (Though quite a few farmers in Wales are actually against a cull, my impression is that they feel they have to keep their heads down.) Any pro-cull figures should not, I suggest, be taken as reflecting the views of the British public as a whole.

Anyway -

If you are against the cull PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO RESPOND TO BOTH CONSULTATIONS: WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT.

Yes, of course there should be a controlled Badger Cull !

Not only because of TB either!

The Badger is the only carnivorous predator in the U.K that has no natural predator's... & whose population can not be controlled by culling!
The Badger population in parts of England & Wales has been spiralling out of control for well over a decade!
In these area's the Badger Population is diseased & is spreading disease ever further when members of the groups are pushed out!
It is not uncommon for Badgers to travel in excess of 8 miles when they are evicted from the family set!

The fact that Badger populations are now out of control & disease ridden is purely down to the "knee-jerk reaction" Badger Act legislation of 1973!
Yes, of course Badger baiting was horrific & totally un-necessary...but there was no need to place complete protection on the species!
Over the last 20 years it has become all too apparent, to those of us that live & work in the Countryside & study the facts (as opposed to listening to the continual hype, hysteria & denial served up by the Badger protection groups...& aided by the press) that the Badger Act of 1973 has led directly to a species (that is at the top of the food chain) becoming grossly over-populated & riddled with Disease!

And if Deer are, allegedly, riddled with TB, as claimed by a previous poster, then why are there only approx less than 5% of animals showing signs of TB when they are dressed out after being shot ??
And a Significant proportion of Dairy Farms here in The South West Of England will conclude that they have between 3 to 6 times more Badgers on the land than they do Deer!

The sooner people start thinking with their brains, instead of their emotions, the sooner this Government can get on & do what is necessary to preserve this country's Livestock Industry...& its wildlife!

Interfering with the natural environment by eliminating a species is an ill-advised strategy. As other respondents have stated,bTB can be effectively controlled by various measures without the unproven benefit that eliminating the badger population may or may not deliver. To control bTB, more comprehensive monitoring and vaccination of cattle will ultimately be needed and this will require stronger legislation and better record keeping.
Unfortunately, the farming lobby is able to influence government against this strategy whilst the promise of an opportunity to kill badgers will satisfy the farmers' need for action (and a bit of fun with some big lights on the 4x4 and the chance to try out a high velocity .22 rifle.)
Some of us may recall another occasion when the so-called custodians of the rural environment decided to eliminate a wild species (which nibbled their crops on this occasion)and remember the obscenity of myxomatosis infection of rabbits.
I would urge anyone who objects to the extermination of badgers to have a look at this web site http://www.badgertrust.org.uk/ and respond to the DEFRA consultation document before 8th December

Today 1st November, 2010 I have attended Hull Magistrates Court to witness three men being sentenced for digging for badgers. The judge made it quite clear that the badger, if taken would have suffered an agonising and cruel death. All this cull will achieve is to give the green light to thugs like the above mentioned, to kill more badgers. Do you honestly think that the cull will stay in the hotspots? No, the knock on effect will be "Oh, I thought it was now legal to kill badgers", thus undermining any case which is brought to court. We are on the cusp of a new oral vaccination being made available, which is cheap and effective. Fed in peanuts or peanut butter sandwiches for just a few pence. Why, when we are on the eve of this break through, does the Government have to once again use the badger as the scape goat? And why does no-one ever think that its the cows that are passing TB on to the badgers and not vice-versa??

There is no need for a badger cull in either Wales or England.

Bobvine-TB is so named because it is a disease of cattle not badgers! Yes, cattle can pass it on to badgers, but badgers are very disease resistant and only a few percent ever reach the infective stage (where it would be possible for them to infect cattle).

Bovine-TB will only be cured by tackling the problem in cattle. At present testing for bovine-TB in England is inadequate and often late. This results in TB-infected cattle being given TB-free status and moved around the country.***

Scotland has been declared bovine-TB free by the EU. This has been achieved without ever culling a single badger. But it has required rigorous testing and re-testing of cattle.

***Further evidence of this is that English cattle with TB-free status have been shown to have bovine-TB on arrival in Scotland. All cattle imports into Scotland are automatically retested. Obviously the same infected cattle are being moved around England.

Bovine-TB will only be eliminated by proper bio-security measures with cattle. Believe me badgers are a red herring or sop by the Governmenmt to farmers.

Robert

Definitely not! There should NOT be a badger cull: Scientific research shows that a cull would not be effective and without absolute proof that badgers actually DO cause the problem it would be morally indefensible. We should nurture and protect these wonderful animals.

Vaccination is the answer and has been proved to have a beneficial effect. Now that original problems have been solved oral vaccination there is no reason why this option should not be used.

We are not told about the 300,000 cattle which are killed each year with farmyard diseases such as mastitis, lameness and foot rot. Neither will the government comment on why the incidence of bTB (Bovine TB) rose approximately 20% following Foot & Mouth, bTB testing had been suspended during the emergency but was not re-instated or enforced prior to moving cattle to replace lost herds etc., result, areas previously bTB free, were now infected, nothing to do with badgers. Alpaca's, number of infected herds in 2005 was 1, in 2009 it was 12 to the end of Septemebr and still 3 months of the year to go. The government agencies intend to test Alpaca herdsevery 4 years why are they not using the same rule as for cattle? Deer, also victims of bTB, testing is envisaged to be the same as for Alpaca's. We are told they cannot give vaccine to cattle because of EC Rules and of the risk to exporting. Why can't they vaccinate dairy herds and stud bulls that are not to be exported? this would greatly reduce the risk and I believe there is a much bigger problem with diary herds than beef cattle. Testing a cow entails the vet injecting then returning to measure a little bump with a calipers, of course, the cow remains absolutely still in the crush and the measurement is correct...Bunkum,it does all it can to get out, that's why so many are misdiagnosed - killed as positive when they are not, and the scary part, registered as clear and let go to infect many more. There only need be one test if the government authorised use of a machine WHICH THEY OWN and paid for its development, it's called Enigma. In production it would cost about £10,000 each and can be used by a low grade technician, no injections and dicey measurements, it's fully portable, accurate, blood tests approx 60 samples at a time and gives correct result in about 20 minutes. It was developed for diagnostic use for our troops, at risk of chemical warfare. Enigma and vaccination is the answer for the badger, cows and any other species affected. The resulting decrease would reduce compensation payout, which in turn, would enable the government to pay our farmers for vaccinating. It would also negate the requirement for our farmers to have to wait for the vet's 2nd visit he would have his results on the day of testing, thus taking away some of the stress.

I am horrified to see that Badgers are proposed to be culled once again. Yes Badgers can get and carry TB but as their territorial range is so small it is just not possible for them to carry TB for the miles that they are blamed for. In the past cull(s), it seemes crazy that the killed Badgers were not even tested to see if they had TB. A Badger will cover possibly 2 miles whilst foraging and will avoid coming into contact with the territory of another set.
I am convinced that the main culprit for the spread of TB is unfortunately Deer. All species of Deer can get and carry TB and the main problem is that they can move and forage as much as 15-20 miles in one night. This accounts for the spreading of TB to Farms more than 10 miles apart. Quite impossible for a Badger to do. It would be better to trap and imunise Badgers rather than Cull them all and most counties in the UK have active Badger Protection Groups, who have a wealth of knowledge on Badgers, would happily assist in this mission.
Paul Fassam

The Coalition promised a carefully managed science- led cull. Instead we are faced with a chaotic slaughter in which badgers will inevitably be wounded, the public will face the danger of widespread rifle shooting in fading light, and farmers will become the villains, paying out significant sums of money for a grossly unpopular and futile slaughter that will actually worsen rather than reduce the level of bovine TB. It looks as though the Government hopes to kill around at least 7,000 badgers in hotspot areas. As six out of every seven badgers in TB hotspot areas are not infected (ISG figures) that means 6,000 perfectly healthy badgers will die unnecessarily. nhappily Countryfile's coverage of this complex issue has consistently failed to point out that this is essentially a cattle-based problem (the root causes are ineffective testing and cattle-to-cattle spread). Countryfile's programmes have consistently concentrated on the alleged contribution of badgers and have ignored the primary role of cattle to cattle transmission. Very disappointing treatment from a programme that normally gives both sides of an argument.