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Save our wildlife - Go vegan!
Urgent: Caroline Spelman.
No to badger 'culling' in England!
Urgent: Welsh Assembly. After their defeat in
the Appeal Court ask them to abandon any future plans to 'cull'
badgers in Wales!
Urgent: Michelle Gildernew.
No to badger 'culling' in Northern Ireland!
Badgers are under threat across the United Kingdom. They are
the scapegoats of failed agricultural policy and political
backslapping. Going against solid scientific advice the Welsh Assembly
may try and forge ahead with new plans to kill badgers, despite
their recent defeat in the Appeal Court battle with The Badger
Trust. This
will be a wildlife massacre and
for nothing. The Conservative / Liberal Democrat coalition have
previously pledged their support for badger 'culling in England
(but may be put off by the scuppering of The Welsh Assembly's
plans), and now Northern Ireland is
considering a 'cull' despite having the lowest incidence of the
disease. 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!
- 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 liam@viva.org.uk. Spread the word!
- Join our dedicated
Welsh and
English Facebook groups to fight badger 'culling'!
- Protest!: organise you own peaceful protest in Wales.
We can send you free materials (see above), we just need you to
take the message to the people. Also, below are people who are
organising events to raise awareness in Wales. Please get in touch
with them directly if you can spare time to help:
Save the Badger: umbrella group for those campaigning for
badgers in Wales and against the 'cull'.
Website
Pembrokeshire against the cull: group on the ground where
the 'cull' is planned.
Website
North Pembrokeshire (where the 'cull' is planned): Adrian
Stallwood and Monica Fernandez. 01437 731604 /
monica.adrian@btinternet.com
Dyfed (covers Pembrokeshire): Badger Watch and Rescue
Dyfed. Gorden Lumby. 01570 480571 /
g.lumby@btopenworld.com
North Wales: Judi Hewitt. 07789 156022 /
judi.nowar@homecall.co.uk
Cardiff (South Wales): Lorraine Parker. 07948 069504 /
lorraineparker31@hotmail.com
- Read
George Monbiot’s recent attack on the destruction of wildlife to
protect financial interests
here.
- 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.
- 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
might be considering pressing ahead with a pilot badger 'cull' in Wales.
This despite the recent ruling by the Appeal Court. Especially as, according to Defra figures, there was a drop in TB
case in Wales between 2008 and 2009 - all without killing badgers.
This move to slaughter 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 pilot 'cull' - it will achieve nothing, only needlessly cost
the lives of wild animals
and tarnish the reputation of Wales.
Whilst a 'cull' in Wales is still on the cards,
I am also joining in a boycott of all Welsh dairy products. As the
average family spends over £600 a year on dairy, this could cost
the industry dear. It is a decision I will only reconsider once
the killing of Welsh wildlife has stopped.
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
might be considering pressing ahead with a pilot badger 'cull' in Wales.
This despite the recent ruling by the Appeal Court. Especially as, according to Defra figures, there was a drop in TB
case in Wales between 2008 and 2009 - all without killing badgers.
The 'cull' 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 if a large scale 'cull' were
to go ahead, 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.
Whilst a 'cull' in Wales is still on the cards,
I am also joining in a boycott of all Welsh dairy products. As the
average family spends over £600 a year on dairy, this could cost
the industry dear. It is a decision I will only reconsider once
the killing of Welsh wildlife has stopped.
Please use your influence to stop the needless slaughter of Welsh
wildlife. I look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely"
- Write to
Caroline Spelman, Defra Secretary
Storm clouds are gathering for English badgers. Previously, both the
leader of the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives have pledged
to carry out 'culling' of badgers if they came to power at the
next election. However, since that came to pass, rather than
launch straight into a disastrous 'cull', the new head of Defra
has ordered a review of the scientific evidence. Therefore, it is
vital that we contact her and urge the new Government to go with
the bulk of science that shows that killing badgers won't stop bovine TB.
The recent ruling in the Appeal Courts to quash the 'cull' in
Wales is important, as that is likely to have a knock-on effect in
England. Please
use the letter below as a basis to politely contact her.
Caroline Spelman
Defra Secretary
Defra
Nobel House
17 Smith Square
London SW1P 3JR
helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk (note: use this email address
from now on. She does not have her own Ministerial address and
emails are being sent back from her constituency address saying
they will only answer constituency business (even though that is
what Defra told us to do!). Put in email header: FAO Caroline
Spelman, Defra Secretary re: coalition badger 'culling' policy
"Dear Minister
I was pleased to hear that the
new coalition government is not pressing ahead with an immediate
'cull' of badgers in England. And I welcome the fact that a
review of the science is being undertaken before decisions are
made as to what future policy will be in this regard.
I do understand
that the NFU, and other farming bodies, have been lobbying hard
to force 'culling' back onto the political agenda in England,
but their efforts are very much misguided. The bottom line is
that at best a 'cull' will do nothing - but will cost the lives
of untold wild animals - but at the worst it will actually
spread the disease further. Also, the most recent Defra figures
show that there has been a drop in Total New Herd Incidents
across the UK, down by 438 in 2009 compared to 2008. This shows
that current methods that do no include the killing of wildlife
are working.
Plus, the recent defeat of the
Welsh Assembly's plans to kill badgers in Wales by the Appeal
Court shows that English plans could very well suffer the same
fate. A drop of just 9 per cent in TB, as highlighted by the
case, is not enough to justify the slaughter of thousands of
wild animals. It also clearly shows the crux of the problem lies
elsewhere.
Please also
reconsider the findings of the government initiated Independent
Scientific Group (ISG) on bovine TB - the largest review of
science undertaken so far. The final report by the ISG
categorically stated that "badger culling can make no meaningful
contribution to cattle TB control in Britain". The ISG found
that weaknesses in cattle testing and the movement of cattle
were the keys to the spread of TB.
Recently, a survey by Imperial
College and Zoological Society of London found that a 'cull'
would not work, and that managing badger populations to stop
them spreading TB to cattle cost more than the impact of the
disease itself. In February 2010, ex-senior scientific adviser
to the UK government, Dr Chris Cheeseman, called the on-going
'trial cull' in Wales "perverse", and said the decision "flies
in the face of the science". In an article in the journal
Science in Parliament, Lord Krebs, who founded the original
badger 'cull' trials, said improved cattle testing and
incentives to keep badgers away from livestock would cost less
than a cull and are as likely to work. Finally, the news is now
emerging that the Republic of Ireland is intent on abandoning
badger 'culling' as a way of tackling bovine TB. Clearly, a
policy to kill badgers to tackle the disease is the wrong one.
As you may know,
95 per cent of the people who responded to the Defra public
consultation on badger 'culling' in England were opposed to a
'cull'. The killing of badgers will be deeply unpopular with the
people of England, and that in itself could be damaging
politically. It could also be damaging financially, as it is
likely to lead to a boycott of English dairy products; mirroring
the one that is currently running in Wales.
Whilst snaring
and gassing have been previously ruled out as 'culling' methods,
caging will still cause considerable stress
to animals and could leave orphaned badgers cubs.
The ISG report also found the incidences of baby badgers dying
in setts after their parents had been killed by outside traps
was increasing.
Any badger 'cull' will also cost huge amounts of money and cause
untold misery for our wildlife - and according to the ISG will
not work.
The decision by
Hilary Benn not to 'cull' badgers in England was the right one -
and it is one that took considerable political courage to take.
I hope you can find similar courage to do the right thing
and say no to killing British wildlife.
Yours sincerely"
- Stop the 'cull' in Northern Ireland
If there was one place where you would think that badgers would be
safe it would be Northern Ireland (NI). The incidence of bovine TB
(bTB) is lower there than anywhere in the UK, and lower than in
the Republic of Ireland. Levels of bTB in NI cattle fell by 50 per
cent between 2002-07 - this was achieved without killing any
badgers by using effective cattle control methods. However,
despite ruling out (at least in the meantime) a widespread 'cull'
in NI, unbelievably, the Minister of Agriculture, Michelle Gildernew,
is now considering carrying out a limited 'cull' of badgers. This
is to ostensibly test for the prevalence of bTB in the badger
population, even though many badgers killed on the road are
currently tested. Reportedly, it is not being called a 'cull'
because 'only' a thousand badgers are to be killed! If you have
already received a reply stating that badgers are not going to die
in NI, it appears that DARD (Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development) are being disingenuous. See our amended suggested
letter below, and write again!
Wherever you live, please help us change her mind before more wild
animals die on the altar of agricultural folly.
Use
the letter below as a template (or even better create your own).
Send
polite messages to:
Michelle Gildernew
Minister of Agriculture
Room 337
Parliament Buildings
Belfast
BT4 3XX
Or email:
private.office@dardni.gov.uk
Or fax: 02890524170
"Dear Minister Gildernew
Whilst I welcome the news that you have not proposed a mass 'cull'
of badgers in NI,
I was extremely disappointed to hear that you are still considering
killing up to a thousand badgers as
part of a prevalence study of bTB in these animals.
Despite calling this a 'badger intervention' it is clear that it
is a 'cull' under another name.
This
prevalence study is especially unwarranted, as a great deal of
information about TB and badgers is already available through the
ongoing DARD study of badgers killed on the road, as well as
previous 'culling' trials in the Irish Republic and Great Britain.
According the the Northern Ireland Badger Group, only 17 per cent
of badgers in NI are infected with TB
- this means that over 800
healthy badgers will be killed during this study. It is also
rumoured that these badgers will be caught using wire snares,
which are incredibly cruel. Please reassure me that this will not
be the case.
This badger intervention policy is folly - and will presumably be
a very costly folly. I can't believe that tax payers in NI wish
this to go ahead.
Plus, the recent defeat of the
Welsh Assembly's plans to kill badgers in Wales by the Appeal
Court shows that plans in NI could very well suffer the same fate.
A drop of just 9 per cent in TB, as highlighted by the case, is
not enough to justify the slaughter of thousands of wild animals.
It also clearly shows the crux of the problem lies elsewhere.
Badgers are not to blame for the bTB crisis. You said yourself, ".
we do not know with any certainty the extent to which badgers
contribute to the incidence of TB in cattle."
However, the largest study ever undertaken into the
issue - the Independent Scientific Group's report - stated
categorically that 'culling' badgers would make no meaningful
contribution to controlling the spread of the disease - and could
make things worse. NI has shown the way in recent years
in sensibly tackling bTB through the main vector -
cattle-to-cattle transmission. The reduction of 50 per cent
(between 2002-07) of bTB in cattle is encouraging - and all
without killing wildlife.
It is also madness to begin killing wildlife, even in a limited
way, when there are issues left unaddressed within farming.
The NI Audit Office's report, The Control of Bovine
Tuberculosis in NI (March 2009), highlighted several
areas for future improvement in the fight against bTB - but
was firmly against badger 'culling'. The report blames inadequate
boundary fencing and poor on-farm bio-security; the failure of
farmers to take part in training to limit the spread of disease
and increase their bio-security knowledge; failure to implement
pre-movement testing; and failure to tackle potentially widespread
non-compliance by farmers, and insufficient fines to discourage
future fraud.
Whilst these issues remain unaddressed in NI, I would suggest that
your department's efforts are better served tackling these
problems - as well as fast tracking vaccination for both badgers
and cattle. Killing a thousand badgers for a prevalence study is
pointless and cruel. Please say
no to the needless slaughter of NI wildlife.
Yours sincerely"
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