|
|
|
 |
 |
Save our wildlife - Go vegan!
- Don't eat meat or dairy - animal agriculture is at the root of
the badger's plight. Click
here to
find out how to ditch them!
- Click
here for your
free badger door-dropper leaflets.
For bigger numbers of leaflets for stalls and other uses please
email kate@viva.org.uk. Spread the word!
- Viva! needs your support. Please donate to our campaign and help us stop the misery of factory farming
and the destruction of our wildlife. Join Viva! if you are not already a supporter.
Going against solid scientific advice the Welsh Assembly have
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. Especially as England has now decided
against a badger cull.
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.
I look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely"
- Please also write a polite letter to Wales' Chief Vet,
Christianne Glossop, who is fronting the Bovine TB Eradication
Programme Board (we do not currently have an email address for
her):
Dr Christianne Glossop
Chief Veterinary Officer
Welsh Assembly Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff CF10 3NQ
"Dear Dr Glossop
As a citizen of the UK I was extremely disappointed to hear that
the Welsh Assembly will not follow the lead of Hilary Benn in
England and cancel plans for a ‘cull’ of badgers in Wales.
This 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 culprits are bad farming
practices and the movement of millions of cattle around the UK
each year.
Despite being promoted as a ‘short term fix’, badgers could be
wiped out in certain parts of Wales and you have admitted that
even in 2018 “the end game will not necessarily be in sight” for
bovine TB. This ‘cull’ could last into the 2030s. It will achieve
nothing, only needlessly cost the lives of thousands of wild
animals and tarnish the reputation of Wales.
Please use your influence to stop the needless slaughter of Welsh
wildlife. I look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely"
- Write to your MP - ask them
to sign EDM 2090:
Alun Michael (MP for Cardiff South and Penarth), has launched an
Early Day Motion (EDM) asking MPs to sign to thank Hilary Benn on
his decision to not 'cull' badgers in England, and to put pressure
on Elin Jones to rethink her policy on killing wildlife in Wales.
You can read the EDM
here.
To find out who your MP is, and to send them an email click
here.
You can also write to your MP at: House of Commons,
Westminster, London SW1A 0AA; to MSPs at The Scottish Parliament,
Edinburgh EH99 1SP and AMs at the National Assembly for Wales,
Cardiff Bay, Cardiff CF99 1NA. You can also find out the name of
your MP by phoning 0207 219 4272; MSP on 0835 278 1999 or AM on
02920 898 200.
It is important that we keep the pressure on in Wales. Use the
letter below as a template, but personalise it if you have time.
“Dear [your MP’s name]
I was delighted that Hilary Benn has decided not to
slaughter badgers in England in an attempt to control bovine TB.
However, I am very concerned that a trial 'cull' in Wales could
still go ahead. As a constituent of yours, I urge you to sign the
Early Day Motion (2090) to back Benn's decision, and to put
pressure on Elin Jones AM, the Minister for Rural Affairs in
Wales, to call off this proposed slaughter of wildlife.
The science is clear, killing badgers would not halt bovine TB –
and could actually make the situation worse.
11,000 badgers were already killed as part of the Randomised
Badger Culling Trials, which found that nearly 90 per cent were
free of the disease. A further trial 'cull' is pointless, and will
be an animal welfare disaster.
The real culprits for the spread of TB in cattle are
intensified farming practices and the mass movement of farmed
animals around the country. Around 14 million
cattle are moved across the UK each year – this number has
quadrupled since 1999. According to Government figures, between
2005 and 2006 over 600,000 more cattle were moved than the
previous year.
Dairy herd sizes have more than doubled since the 1970s – when
bovine TB was at its lowest. There is a direct correlation between
larger herd sizes and the spread of disease. The
rush to intensify animal agriculture has led to this disastrous
situation. Dairy cows suffer the dual burden of pregnancy and
lactation during much of their lives. Their immune systems are
shot to pieces and they are physically exhausted and killed at a
fraction of their natural lifespan. Add to this unreliable bovine
TB testing that is inaccurate in one-third of cases and you start
to see the real causes of the problem.
Please sign Early Day Motion (2090) (http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=36437&SESSION=891)
and urge a non-lethal approach to controlling cattle TB in Wales.
I look forward to your response."
- Please also write to Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for
Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. He has made the courageous
decision not to kill badgers in England. Please write a polite
letter to thank him (no matter where in the UK you live) and
insist that the Government police farmers who try and take the
matters into their own hands, and prosecute any that are found
killing these protected animals:
Hilary Benn MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA – or online at
http://hilarybenn.org/contact – or phone 020 7219 3000:
"Dear Minister
Firstly, thank you for your courageous decision to go with science
and common sense, and not allow a ‘cull’ of badgers in England. I
understand that you must have been under huge pressure from the
farming community, but your decision was the right one. The
science is clear, killing badgers would not halt bovine TB – and
as you yourself pointed out it could actually make the situation
worse.
As I know you are aware, a trial ‘cull’ in Wales is still planned.
This despite the fact that 11,000 badgers were already killed as
part of the Randomised Badger Culling Trials, which found that
nearly 90 per cent were free of the disease. As you know, the real
culprits are intensified farming practices and the mass movement
of cattle around the country. I urge you to write to Elin Jones
and ask her to follow your lead and call off the ‘cull’ in Wales.
I am also concerned that misguided farmers may try and take
matters into their own hands. Please can you tell me what measures
you will put in place to police this and ensure that these
protected animals are not the victims of vigilantes? I urge you to
ensure that anyone found illegally killing badgers will be
prosecuted under the full force of the law.
Yours sincerely"
|
|
|
 | |  |  | |  |  | | |
 |
"The culling of badgers is absolutely obscene. The largest ever study found
that it would make things things worse not better, yet they still push ahead
towards the meaningless destruction of our wildlife. Please help Viva! stop
this madness by ending the cull and helping people give up the very things
that are at the root of it: meat and dairy."
TV wildlife presenter and Viva! patron Wendy Turner-Webster
“I'm so thrilled to hear that the proposed extermination of this
country's Badgers has been scrapped. I congratulate Hilary Benn on a brave
and humane decision. And I am encouraged by the rejection of what I regard
as a disgracefully scientifically unsound report by ex chief scientific
advisor to the Government, Sir David King.
“The Farming community must now logically look to improvements in their own
methods to control TB in Cattle. We can only hope that this leads to
long-term improvements in the way farm animals are treated; it is long
overdue.
“Just for the sake of making more money out of what some of us eat (not me)
... these people wanted to exterminate a whole population of innocent wild
animals who have as much right to live in this land as we humans do.”
Brian May from Queen
“Now farmers will realise the strength of the science and will recognise
that culling has no part to play. They should now objectively, alongside
government, consider the cattle control elements that we all know are
absolutely essential as outlined in our report.”
Professor John Bourne, chairman of the Independent Scientific Group
"Culling badgers is historically known to be totally ineffective in stopping
bovine TB. Northern Ireland has proved that the most effective procedures
are strict cattle controls and no culling. We should all follow their lead-
It works!"
Jenny Seagrove
“We must not make badgers scapegoats for bovine TB”.
Joanna Lumley
“How can we condemn a protected species to death when the reasons for
doing so have been discredited by valid scientific evidence? Badger culling
is utterly barbaric and pointless. Please support Viva! in their fight to
stop this needless massacre of our precious wildlife.”
Twiggy
“Deep down anyone with common sense knows that killing animals is wrong, but
what makes the idea of culling badgers even more sinister is that it’s being
done in order to cover up bad farming practices and lazy testing methods. I
don’t want to stand by knowing that these great creatures are suffering and
being killed, but I also don’t want to see a time in the future when we look
back and wonder how we let another group of our animals disappeared from our
country.
I say no to this or any other badger cull and I urge all caring people to do
the same. Get rid of ignorance, not badgers.”
Benjamin Zephaniah
“I totally support Viva! in their campaign to stop the badger cull which is
both obscene and unnecessary since top scientists say it will only make the
spread of TB in cattle worse.”
Rose Elliot |
|