Badgers - Black and White campaign

[crystaltips]

hello, this is my first day on this site and I totally agree with you - THERE SHOULD BE NO CULL - these are lovely creatures and should be helped to get rid of this TB by scientists not by just needlessly killing them. ct

[coldun]

Hi

Totally agree and thought you may be interested in this..

Coldun

Tuesday 3 October 2006

The RSPCA is today welcoming new scientific research which suggests cattle could be to blame for spreading bovine tuberculosis to badgers - and that any badger cull could spread the disease yet further.

The research was carried out by scientists from the Independent
Scientific Group on Cattle TB (ISG) and from universities in Edinburgh, London, Oxford and Strathclyde, as well as Government laboratories. It provides new evidence that cattle are responsible for transmitting bovine TB to badgers and that culling badgers can actually increase levels of the disease among the badger population.

The RSPCA has been campaigning against a possible cull of badgers and has long argued that such a move could make matters much worse. RSPCA wildlife senior scientific officer Colin Booty said: "This research provides yet further evidence that killing badgers is never going to be a simple solution to the complex problems of bovine TB in cattle.

"All we've ever asked people to do is look at the science - and
these findings show that any moves to a cull could be potentially
disastrous for cattle, for badgers and for farmers. Our view has always been informed by science, and by the robust advice of experts such as the Science Advisory Council, the ISG and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency."

The RSPCA believes the new research reinforces the argument that
Defra's consultation last December was premature, in advance of the full report on the badger-culling trial and associated research. Further scientific results from research related to the trial have stillto appear and the ISG's final report is due next year.

The Government's public consultation on badger-culling received a
record 47,472 responses, more than 95% of which opposed a cull.

[littleT]

Extremely suprising. but obvious yet again that some people opt for the easy option rather than the right one, don't check their facts first, then end up in more trouble than was present to begin with!!

I saw my very first badger a week ago.
I'd been told they were large but the size of this fellow, woo MASIVE.
Shame it was nolonger alive, must have been hit by a car.
Poor thing.

I personally would oppose a badger cull. It simply isn't necessary. It wasn't before and it isn't now.

[Earth Hart]

Hi Tragus,
Check out Mammal Forum, re New Research.

One thing about the word Cull, very rarely have I seen it used correctly. To Cull: To control & maintain a species or population where natural predators do not exist, usually in wildlife parks, reserves & sanctuaries etc. At Woburn Park we culled deer every year & it was a strict regime. The so called cull of seals in the Orkneys was not a cull but a slaughter. The proposed cull of badgers is the same, a slaughter.

[crystaltips]

hello,
Yes I agree with you totally, there just has to be some other way to control TB, why can't they have a jab like humans ?

crystaltips

[littleT]

I think this has something to do with the contamination of the meat/dairy produce from the cattle. In order for it to be fit for human consumption there is a limit as to what can be given. Most medications after making the animal better will be out of their systems. However diseases such as TB will remain in the system making the animal unfit for slaughter, market and human consumption.

I'll have to check my facts on that, but that is the general impression I was given whilst on call with the vets(I worked at part time between leaving school and starting a family).

[littleT]

O.K. did a quick search and there is research being done into the use of Vaccines to control TB in cattle and badgers.
Obviously this technology wasn't wide spread 10years ago when I was working with the vets.

Defra, UK - Animal health & welfare - bovine TB in cattle - Vaccine research
I'm quite sure that it was defra that is mentioned earlier in this thread.

[PMG]

Added our ten penny-worth too. We have campained before on the subject of badger culling - its been up there on our list of shouldn't be happening for a long long time. My own personal view is that the badgers pick up the TB from the cattle not the other way around. Cattle are not properly tested anymore (is anything done properly anymore?)(Can we trust anything we are told about anything - my guess would be a no - in my experience nobody tells the truth anymore?) anyway - as I was saying I think the cattle spit and slaver into the grass as they feed and the badgers come along each night and suck up earthworms - and infected saliver. . .

Since when does eradication of a species actually help? What about eradicating all humans who are carrying diseases . . . wouldn't be many of us left would there? Yet these folk way up there above us ordinary people can think that its ok to kill animals (and in a horrible and inhumane way like gassing) and justify it? It makes me so angry I could just spit.

[Preseli]

I disagree with the idea of a cull (the evidence to support it just isn't there) but no definite plans were made even after the Krebs report. Surveys for badgers (funded by Defra and the Welsh Assembly) were carried out across the West country and South-west Wales through the Spring of 2006 to form an estimation of badger numbers in those areas most heavily affected by TB, the results of which were going to be taken into account when deciding on a cull. However, other species have also been considered as reserviors for the disease e.g. deer, hare and foxes. In terms of transmission there is still no conclusive evidence to support the idea that Cattle had TB first and passed it to badgers or vice versa but what is defininate is that they do transmit to each other at present. There have been landowners who've had closed farms for many many years which have never had TB yet they've suddenly tested positive - there are many who are unhappy about the way things have been done which is why they've called for a cull.

Personally I think the whole thing is a complete balls up (please excuse my language). I really do think it's unfair to carry out a badger cull (the plans were to shoot rather than gas, more humane but still, in my view, wrong) but when you talk about cruelty what about the cattle? The tests they use for TB in live animals aren't 100% accurate and can test positive even if there's nothing wrong, only as soon as a positive test comes up the animal has to be slaughtered. Once dead they're re-tested with a more accurate test and quite often they come up negative and the cows have died for nothing, they can't even then be used for food! They are researching for a vaccination but there is still a way to go.

No pun intended but there really is no black and white answer, people either wanted it or they don't (after spending many nights in the early hours watching these animals foraging, a very magical experience, I definately don't) and it depends who is the loudest voice. Hopefully the anti-cull faction will be.

Sorry for rambling on!!!!

Pxx

[blacky]

Hi agree totally with all the comments if they culled all the badgers that would not stop tb in cattle. a lot of evidence to sugest its spread by infected cattle and poor farming.Blacky