Badger cull is a disgrace, says Brian May
QUEEN guitarist Brian May led a rally on College Green calling for a planned badger cull to be stopped.
The protest took place as the Court of Appeal decided that two pilot culls should go ahead in Gloucestershire and Somerset.
Wildlife groups say up to 130,000 badgers could be killed in an attempt to help eradicate bovine tuberculosis, which last year led to the slaughter of more than 26,000 cattle at a cost of £91 million to the economy.
The 65-year-old rock star told the Post that the planned cull was inhumane and said the government had not given the alternative, a vaccination programme, a chance.
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He said: "For a wonderful wild mammal to be slaughtered in this way is a disgrace.
"A cull does not address the problem and it will not make the problem go away. It is a temporary solution and one that doesn't address the real issues of the disease affecting cattle.
"Defra [the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] are misleading us with false promises that the disease can be tackled like this. We need a long-term plan instead, with a commitment to vaccination not cold-blooded killing."
He said he was not daunted by the failure of yesterday's court action by the Badger Trust as the judges were looking at "technicalities" in government procedure and not the scientific evidence or ethical considerations.
Mr May said that part of the problem for vaccination lies with restraints from the EU.
He said: "I would be willing to go to Europe and fight for this on Britain's behalf for our right to vaccinate."
Around 200 people had gathered on College Green to join last night's protest to launch a national Stop the Cull campaign.
Many came in costume for a best dressed badger competition held afterwards.
The National Farmer's Union supports the cull, which now looks set to go ahead.
NFU South West acting regional director Andrew Butler said: "We must remember that no other country in the world has tackled TB successfully without also controlling TB in its wildlife reservoir. This is why the NFU fully supports the two badger control pilot areas as part of the Government's science-led policy of culling badgers in areas where TB is persistent and high.
"This policy is desperately needed to tackle what is a terrible and damaging disease that affects cattle and badgers and brings misery to the lives of many hard-working farming families.
"Our goal is for a healthy countryside and that needs healthy badgers and healthy cattle."
Comments
by dodgethebulle
Tuesday, September 18 2012, 11:10AM
“Anyone wanting to learn the truth about badgers and bTB should read this information, it will quickly become apparent that charlespk and ssimples are distorting the truth and just enjoy killing things..
http://tinyurl.com/8c93odx
http://tinyurl.com/bvjp9rv”
by artglad
Saturday, September 15 2012, 1:36AM
“Shame on charles pk on comparing a few rich farmers problems, such a trivial matter to that of the Hillborough disaster cover up!!!”
by ssimples
Thursday, September 13 2012, 4:59PM
“In terms of TB control GB has gone from being world leading from 1997 to 1986 to one today which is a national disgrace.
What happened to GB to cause this massive change around? Is it because in 1986 farmers in GB started to behave very differently to farmers abroad where countries are either TB free or have TB under control? From comments in many forums many people believe farming practices are the cause. Perhaps farmers in GB need to act like farmers abroad. Of course this is rubbish.
In just 25 years the incidence of TB in cattle in GB has increased by more than 40 times as seen by these figures which were taken from the Chief Veterinary Officer's Annual Reports and were supplied to me by DEFRA.
Year....Number of cattle slaughtered
1977....764
1978....668
1979....633
1980....873
1981....784
1982....569
1983....621
1984....660
1985....699
1986....513
Now let's look at the next 10 years.
Year......Number of cattle slaughtered
1987.....810
1988.....688
1989.....901
1990....1048
1991....1124
1992....1244
1993....1965
1994....2304
1995....2896
1996....3253
This represents a four-fold increase in 10 years.
In 2011 in GB, the number of cattle slaughtered (not including cases detected in slaughter houses or direct contacts) had reached 22,437. This is over a 40-fold increase from the number in 1986.
If anyone is interested to know what went wrong, Google "1986-1997 Interim strategy". This will also give a clue as to what needs to be done.”
by Charlespk
Thursday, September 13 2012, 2:38PM
“17th. November 2011 9:41 pm . Christopher's Lament.
"Well, I read these posts this morning, and then I went out to spend a few minutes with my suckler cows and their spring-born calves, some of which are now almost as tall as their mothers. . They were grazing happily in some welcome autumn sunshine, and I thought; "We're due another TB test very soon; already had four tests in the past 12 months; we're pretty well tested to destruction round here.". . And the Dread stirs.
"How many will they take this time?". They have killed over one third of my fine, mainly home-bred, healthy cows in the last year, more in previous years. . I want my cattle, not the "massive compensation" that Anonymous thinks I'm paid, (when the reality is that this year I will be £20,000 short on income, with almost no parallel reduction in my costs).
Then I thought, "remember; it's your fault".
What?. Why? . . What have I done?
Anonymous says so; to the whole world. . Anonymous says that "cattle, farmers and Defra's failure…" are the "real root of the problem". He can't mean corn farmers; he must mean me. . I am the real root of the bTB problem. . But I've done all the required tests for years and years, so has every neighbour and beyond that I know, they just go on doing it and put up with the loss, hands tied behind their backs, slow motion execution. Or they give up. Some kill themselves. . Good riddance, they're the "real root of the problem". They leave desperate notes. And they leave families.
Then I think: maybe Anonymous didn't actually mean "farmers". Maybe he (or she, apologies, I've never been to a christening where the priest says "I name this child Anonymous") meant "a very very few farmers". And I thought: "I don't tell Anonymous that he's a thief and a criminal just because a minute proportion of our society are thieves and criminals. Anonymous must mean cattle farmers. Anonymous isn't stupid, or ignorant, or careless with what he blags over the internet. If he meant "a very few" he would say that. . Anonymous knows stuff.
And I thought: having got all the cattle in yet again, twice in one week, maybe raining on us all day, all the stress, will I have to hear the vet, one after another "another reactor I'm afraid". Will I be able to go on running them down the race?. Will I finally succumb to the overwhelming urge to walk off and say "test them your xxxxself"?"”
by Charlespk
Thursday, September 13 2012, 2:37PM
“"When I phone Animal "Health" and say "I don't think I can bring myself to load these fine cattle for such unnecessary premature slaughter, you're asking me to buy the bullets for my own execution". Will she laugh like last time; think I'm joking? . Think I'm joking. . Think I'm joking! . Will she think I'm joking? . Will I return happily home and tell Jane, "No worries, just another 15 going today; what's for tea?". . Will she say "What are they doing about the badgers?". . I'll say, "Nothing. . None have been even tested. All they do is talk and delay."
They don't want to lose the vote of Anonymous. . Anonymous knows such a lot.
Anonymous is a badgerist, and badgerism is a faith thing. .
Anonymous's grasp of logic is so slender that he has just written that if we think badgers are the real problem why is it that the proposed slaughter of badgers will produce at best a 16% fall in bTB over 9 years. . But Anonymous doesn't understand that this is the Defra's guess; that the proposed cull will be on their incredible terms, not in winter so they can breed again. . No more than 70% of the population and so on.
Anonymous has written that Defra's guess means that badgers aren't the "real problem". . That's the "logic".
Incredibly, Anonymous doesn't understand that whether or not badgers are the "real problem" has absolutely nothing to do with Defra's culling proposals. . Anonymous won't even understand what I'm saying. . If he could understand, he could not possibly have written what he did.
Maybe Anonymous will give us a little homily on the Scientific Method, like we had from Jdaven7034 last week. . Thanks in advance.
And I say to the Ministry vet at the test, "it's not working is it?"
"What isn't working?" he says.
"Your policy to control bTB".
"Well, we're clearing it from the cattle." he says.
"Yes, you're clearing it from the cattle. . Like you have done since about 1930." .
I need to remember. . It's my fault. . Anonymous is right. . It's my fault. .The farmers are the "real root of the problem". . And I'm one of them. . I hang my head. . I will not let despair take over. . I try and enjoy the autumn sunshine.
Hard luck story?. No, that's exactly how it is here on the coal face, for thousands and thousands of us here in the West and Wales. . Exactly how it is.
Newt is right. . This news story, sabotaged to revisit yet again the culling thing, was a real breath of fresh air. . The Badgerists, or some of them, stepping gingerly back from pure faith and dogma, to do a little experiment. Linking up with a very enlightened NFU man, five very enlightened farmers. . No doubt if there are good results, the Badgerists won't be worrying about lack of control experiments.
It's light years away from a solution, but it's a supernova in terms of human progress. . Let's hope that the enlightenment grows; more tests ensue, and truly independent observers tell us what results they find.
In the intervening years, while we carry on waiting, like we waited for Nick Brown, Margaret Beckett, David Miliband, Hilary Benn, Jim Paice and others, what will Anonymous have to say to me when they have killed my last breeding cow? . "Silly cow farmer, you were the 'real root of the problem'. . Ten of your mates disobeyed the rules."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christopher Sturdy
It's taken 23 years for the Hillsborough families to get justice. . There will be a day of reckoning for this debacle also.”
by ssimples
Thursday, September 13 2012, 2:23PM
“It looks like the EU are not impressed with the change in direction which the current Welsh government have introduced towards vaccination.
The following is an extract from the recent EU report referred to in the link below.
The Welsh eradication plan will lose some impetus as badger culling will now be replaced with badger vaccination. This was not part of the original strategy that consisted of a comprehensive plan that has now been disrupted. There is no scientific evidence to demonstrate that badger vaccination will reduce the incidence of TB in cattle. However there is considerable evidence to support the removal of badgers in order to improve the TB status of both badgers and cattle.
UK politicians must accept their responsibility to their own farmers and taxpayers as well as to the rest of the EU and commit to a long-term strategy that is not dependent on elections.
REPORT OF THE BOVINE TUBERCULOSIS SUB-GROUP, EUROPEAN COMMISSION HEALTH & CONSUMERS DIRECTORATE-GENERAL, Veterinary and international affaires, Meeting held in The UK 27-28 March 2012.
http://tinyurl.com/8esb3cd”
by dodgethebulle
Thursday, September 13 2012, 1:57PM
“The 1981 Zuckerman Report is outdated, this was the reason the government commissioned the KREBS report which states "a badger cull would be INEFFECTIVE in tackling bTB in cattle". The report goes on to say that "vaccination would be a better solution"
http://tinyurl.com/69sqykf
http://tinyurl.com/9lmonj3”
by dodgethebulle
Thursday, September 13 2012, 1:57PM
“Lord Krebs said the trial evidence should be interpreted as an argument against culling. "You cull intensively for at least four years, you will have a net benefit of reducing TB in cattle of 12% to 16%. So you leave 85% of the problem still there, having gone to a huge amount of trouble to kill a huge number of badgers," he said. "It doesn't seem to be an effective way of controlling the disease."
He said a better option would be to try to develop a vaccine in the long term, and in the short term to use better "biosecurity" measures to prevent cattle from coming into contact with badgers and other sources of the disease, and to prevent them passing it to each other.
http://tinyurl.com/69sqykf
http://tinyurl.com/9lmonj3”
by dodgethebulle
Thursday, September 13 2012, 1:56PM
“ssimples..
you should listen to what this farmer has to say on the problem...
http://tinyurl.com/8upfnjy
https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/38257/signature/new”
by dodgethebulle
Thursday, September 13 2012, 1:42PM
“Lord Krebs said the trial evidence should be interpreted as an argument against culling. "You cull intensively for at least four years, you will have a net benefit of reducing TB in cattle of 12% to 16%. So you leave 85% of the problem still there, having gone to a huge amount of trouble to kill a huge number of badgers," he said. "It doesn't seem to be an effective way of controlling the disease."
He said a better option would be to try to develop a vaccine in the long term, and in the short term to use better "biosecurity" measures to prevent cattle from coming into contact with badgers and other sources of the disease, and to prevent them passing it to each other.
http://tinyurl.com/69sqykf
http://tinyurl.com/9lmonj3”