Brian May to lead Bristol rally against badger cull

“Independent scientific studies have shown that culling would be of little help in reducing bovine TB, and even suggest that it could make things worse in some areas. To hear the facts, press play on the video above.

If you want the government to make the sensible choice. Sign the Petition

http://tinyurl.com/9ndb3ty

http://tinyurl.com/9lmonj3”

“Independent scientific studies have shown that culling would be of little help in reducing bovine TB, and even suggest that it could make things worse in some areas. To hear the facts, press play on the video above.

If you want the government to make the sensible choice. Sign the Petition

http://tinyurl.com/9ndb3ty

http://tinyurl.com/9lmonj3”

“I think as always the same stories will keep coming up until they are resolved, which will be years in the TB debateas it has been. I think repeating things in different places does work I have been to many anti cull meetings and seen new people drawn in at each one.

If repeating the same thing over and over doesn't work why another badger cull? We've done plenty since the 1970s....?

I think it's the politicians who should use their brains, campaigning for what you believe in (and the court appeal is yet to be heard anyway it's tomorrow) is what anyone should do no matter what it is, if you believe in it you should stand up for it not give in.

I don't think, with all the antibiotics and pesticides in the food chain a vaccination (cows are probably vaccinated against some things anyway) in the food chain can even be a slight worry, I had that same vaccine injected into me as have millions of people.

It is of note the only disease ever eradicated is smallpox, and that is because it has no wildlife resivour. There will always be a resivour of TB in humans, badgers, deer, rabbits....there can be no end to it until the cows are vaccinated.

The badger groups and Brian are all pro vaccinating badgers but most of us feel that this is a short term solution and the only permanent solution is vaccinating cows, and there is an appeal to get the laws against this changed.

These rallys are not just about public support they are about education...most people think farmers are paying for the cull. Bet you didn't know you are too! DNA tests using badger hair caught on hair traps are going ahead right now to estimate badger numbers in cull areas at tax payers' expense....

Personally I believe what we need to do is tackle bovine TB permanently and as cheaply as possible and continuous badger culls over the decades have proved ineffective. If it worked, then I imagine I would support it. Deer culling goes ahead, I don't like it but I can see we need it since we killed all the wolves...

I think anything that can be done to stop senseleess wasting of hard pressed farmers' money and also taxation and to encourage a good solution to this problem should be welcomed.

I have often thought why are we making such a fuss over TB when it is not the leading cause of cattle loss, and if farmers were't forced to sell milk at a loss to most suppliers we might be addressing interests that would be of more immediate benefit to farmers. I'd rather pay more for my milk than watch farmers go bust.

The facts are that a badger cull can only reduce BTB by a maximum of 16% suggests that it is not money well spent, especially with all the money spent on politics. If the government really want a cull they should pay for it not the farmers.

In my opinion the badger cull is nothing more than a potentially cruel (to farmers as well as badgers) time and money wasting political stunt of no benefit to anyone but the ballot numbers of people mis-sold a solution.

It is likely badgers will be inhumanely shot and result in a switch to cage trapping at great expense...to farmers. Also it is not unlikely people, livestock and pets, as well as over wildlife will be at risk. Anyone fancy doing a bat survey at night in a cull area with bullets traveling up to 2 miles? That's my job!

And whatever I think, anyone conducting a peaceful protest for what they believe in instead of just moaning about things and doing nothing (something we are all probably guilty of) should be commended.”

“A badger cull will NOT stop the spread of bTB but will very likely make it worse!

The official policy in Britain (and the rest of the European Union) is to eradicate bovine TB from cattle. This is laid out in 'The Bovine TB Eradication Programme For England' (DEFRA 2011b ). It is true that disease eradication has been achieved for smallpox in humans, and has recently been claimed for rinderpest in cattle. These diseases, however, have single maintenance hosts and hence eradication is a meaninful objective (CFSPH, 2008 ). But no disease with multiple maintenance hosts has ever been eradicated - and may never be. Moreover global eradication programmes are extremely expensive and can have very adverse side-effects, especially in relation to diverting resources from effective control methods (see Caplan, 2009 on 'Is eradication ethical?').

Even disease elimination - namely reduction to zero in the incidence of infection within a specified geographical area - is impractical when you have several wild maintenance hosts as with bovine TB. TB infected cattle can be removed using the 'test and cull' approach, with affected herds put under movement restriction and re-tested periodically to eliminate cattle that may shed the organism. But this approach cannot be used for wildlife reservoir species, which in Britain means badgers and fallow deer. Because sick badgers are more likely to get culled, large scale pro-active culls (actually a misuse of the term 'cull') may sometimes reduce the disease prevalence in badgers (Corner et al., 2008 ), but cannot possibly eliminate infections in a wild population, therefore given these facts, could it be the UK government has adopted a dysfunctional disease control policy merely to placate wealthy livestock farmers and avoid spending money?
If so, it is almost as unfair to farmers as it is to the badgers...

http://tinyurl.com/9ra96cg”

“A badger cull will NOT stop the spread of bTB but will very likely make it worse!

The official policy in Britain (and the rest of the European Union) is to eradicate bovine TB from cattle. This is laid out in 'The Bovine TB Eradication Programme For England' (DEFRA 2011b ). It is true that disease eradication has been achieved for smallpox in humans, and has recently been claimed for rinderpest in cattle. These diseases, however, have single maintenance hosts and hence eradication is a meaninful objective (CFSPH, 2008 ). But no disease with multiple maintenance hosts has ever been eradicated - and may never be. Moreover global eradication programmes are extremely expensive and can have very adverse side-effects, especially in relation to diverting resources from effective control methods (see Caplan, 2009 on 'Is eradication ethical?').

Even disease elimination - namely reduction to zero in the incidence of infection within a specified geographical area - is impractical when you have several wild maintenance hosts as with bovine TB. TB infected cattle can be removed using the 'test and cull' approach, with affected herds put under movement restriction and re-tested periodically to eliminate cattle that may shed the organism. But this approach cannot be used for wildlife reservoir species, which in Britain means badgers and fallow deer. Because sick badgers are more likely to get culled, large scale pro-active culls (actually a misuse of the term 'cull') may sometimes reduce the disease prevalence in badgers (Corner et al., 2008 ), but cannot possibly eliminate infections in a wild population, therefore given these facts, could it be the UK government has adopted a dysfunctional disease control policy merely to placate wealthy livestock farmers and avoid spending money?
If so, it is almost as unfair to farmers as it is to the badgers...

http://tinyurl.com/9ra96cg

http://tinyurl.com/cy8zkvv”

“I have no idea why they keep posting the same stories?

"""May has called for the vaccination of cattle rather than a cull."""

The man is a vegan (I believe) and he doesn't have to worry about introducing a vaccine into the food chain.

Defra appear to indicate they don't like/wont be vaccinating live stock involved in the food chain.
http://tinyurl.com/9oeg2h7

So if he wants to save the badgers from a cull, he's going to look at alternatives to vaccinating cattle e.g. vaccinating badgers.

The law courts have said the cull can go ahead, so making repeated calls for it to be stopped is a lost cause. Brian is a bright guy and he should know that repeating the same thing over and over again isn't going to work. I'd suggest he uses some of his intelligence in a more constructive way in solving this problem.”