Save our wildlife - Go vegan!

Urgent: Welsh Assembly. Reverse badger 'culling' decision in Wales!
Urgent: Michelle Gildernew. No to badger 'culling' in Northern Ireland!
Urgent: Write to Nick Clegg and David Cameron. No to badger 'culling' in England!

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 have now voted to allow a pilot badger 'cull' to go ahead in Wales (probably from May 2010). This will be a wildlife massacre and for nothing. Opposition parties in England have pledged support for a 'cull' if they get into power, 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 kate@viva.org.uk. Spread the word!

• 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
  
  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 you have announced your intention to press ahead with a pilot badger 'cull' in Wales. Especially as England has now decided against a badger 'cull', and is trialling inoculations in the summer.
  
  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 pilot 'cull' - it will achieve nothing, only needlessly cost the lives 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 the pilot 'cull' of badgers in Wales. Especially as England has now decided against a badger 'cull', and is trialling inoculations in the summer.
  
  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.
  
  Please use your influence to stop the needless slaughter of Welsh wildlife. I look forward to your response.
  
  Yours sincerely"
  
   
• Write to Nick Clegg and David Cameron
  
  Storm clouds are gathering for English badgers. Both the leader of the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives have pledged to carry out 'culling' of badgers if they come to power at the next election. Again, this is a political decision, and we need them to face facts: killing badgers won't stop bovine TB. Please use the letter below as a basis to politely contact them and call for an urgent change in policy.
  
  Nick Clegg: libdemleader@parliament.uk
  
  David Cameron: camerond@parliament.uk
   
  "Dear ****

   

  As a potential voter for your party I was dismayed to hear that you would back a badger 'cull' in England in an attempt to halt the spread of bovine TB.

   

  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.

   

  Please also reconsider the findings of the government initiated Independent Scientific Group (ISG) on bovine TB. 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.

   

  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'.

   

  Whilst snaring and gassing have been previously ruled out as 'culling' methods, night shooting and caging will still cause considerable stress to animals - and many may be injured but not killed outright. 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' would be hugely unpopular with the general public - and rightly so. It 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 your party can find similar courage to do the right thing and say no to killing British wildlife.

   

  Yours sincerely"

  Have you had a reply? Click here to answer their generic responses!
  
   

• 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.

  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"

  
   

• 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 is now set 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 email Hilary.Benn@defra.gsi.gov.uk - 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"