This is so sad !
How come a thread like this dribbled on into infinite? I actually did enjoy reading some of the information in this thread, but somehow it got off subject and the message was lost.
I have just this week had to see a
Badger put to sleep as it had tested positive twice for TB. This was necessary because it came from an area where there are cattle. Our policy at our rescue centre is to test every
Badger for TB if it tests positive we always get a second test to make sure it isn't a false positive.
The Bovine tb test is not without its faults and I'm sure there are many farmers out there whose herd has head positive tests only to find out in post mortem that there is no tb in the herd. I'm sorry I can't quote sources only that we have long discussions with our vet. We work in a rural area and meet many farmers who do not blame the
Badger and some that do.
I believe that a
Badger cull is not the answer.
The answer would be to find a vaccine for the cattle and to compensate farmers for their losses. This in fact would be cheaper for the tax payer and beneficial to
Badgers.
There is no evidence to suggest that
Badgers alone can transmit TB, and lets be honest it's called BOVINE tb!
We have many
Badgers through our doors, and only one or two test positive for TB. Those that do are humanely destroyed, I for one would not like to think of a
Badger being released with TB to suffer a long a painful death. But as our vet also states, a
Badger can test positive for tb, but never nessecarily develop TB and become infectious.
Perhaps I am naive in my thinking but the proposed cull in my opinion, and it is only MY opinion, is not the answer.
Jo
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