Badgers - no cull?
It seems there won't be a cull of badgers in England - despite farmers being worried they spread TB to cattle. Is that the right decision?
Hi 5live In 2003 i lost 106 of my pedigree cows with TB! Just prior to me loosing my cows, i found NUMEROUS dead&dying badgers on my farm! I have so much evidence that the sick badgers were passing on this disease to my cows! Also from an animal loving person,it is distressing watching how hard a death a badger has, when its infected. We MUST cull badgers in TB 'Hotspots'! Both to save MY cows, &to protect the healthy badger population! Andy near Belfast
The decision on the badger cull blows Gordon's boast about taking tough decisions out of the water. New Labour, No Guts! Roy(BEDS).
Badgers - A small, strident lobby has triumphed and the whole country is the loser. There are twenty new cases of bovine TB a day. The Government has been badgered and cowed. Mike, Devon
Evidence does not support that cattle catch TB from badgers, but that badgers may catch TB from cattle. A badger cull makes no sense. Steve, Sheffield
Re badger culling decision : yet another example of the vociferous minority winning thru, how sad bet no cull is cheaper too! Neil on Hogs Back
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But there will be a cull in Wales.
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I cannot understand why any sane person wants TB in wildlife. Surely it makes perfect sense to eradicate TB in ALL animals regardless of their species.
At the moment Farmers have their cattle culled only to have them replaced with "clean" cattle which then are re-infected somehow.
Anyone who loves Badgers cannot in all honestly want them to die of TB. I don't. I would rather they were culled and did not pass on this terrible disease to any other members of their species, other animals or us!
The only way we are going to eradicate TB is to break the chain. Whether it is the cattle giving it to the badgers or visa versa I don't care. The important point is the TB and the effect it has on peoples lives.
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Morning Shelagh and Nicky. I am lucky aren't I? I can say anything because I am me. But the Press?
So after the so called "John Lewis" list was kept by MPs yesterday - "John Lewis reports sharp sales fall" in this mornings papers?
Hmm! Perhaps the MPs have found a new list - which retailer? Maceys of New York perhaps?
Honest, Jasper - Roll Law lash if........
lol. Oh dear. Roll Law - Cat o' nine tails (or tales perhaps) I am above you and have contempt for you too.
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I note that despite the decision some Farmers have said they will kill Badgers anyway.
I have over recent years seen many dead Badgers lying neatly by the side of the road with no signs of impact injuries.
I suggest that farmers already cull badgers and place them by the road side.
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As a cattle farmer I am disgusted at this Government's weak and lilly livered approach to the above issue. They have chosen to ignore the evidence of trails which involve culling badgers carried out within hard boarders and the experience of the Irish.
Once again we see them pandering to public opinion which has little or no knowledge of the situation on the ground, the same thing happened with the hunting ban.
Tb is costing this county's tax payers over £80 million per year, a figure which will continue to rise. We see cattle being slaughtered on animal health and welfare grounds, but badgers are allowed to die a slow and painful death from the disease.
With the cost of food now on everyones lips, I suggest that a policy of procrastination will add to the price of both beef and milk and may result in shortages.
The Government has ignored the effect this lack of action is having on farming families up and down the country where people are being forced out of business because of it.
Many cattle farmers operate closed herds which never bring cattle onto their farm because they breed all their own stock, how then do the badgers lovers explain the outbreaks of TB in these herds? They can only be infected by diseased wildlife.
Why is public opinion given any importance to this decision? It appears to not matter one iota when invading middle eastern countries or propping up ailing banks.
Whilst I don't condone any illegal activity I completely understand why any cattle farmer would wish to rid his land of what has become a pest species over the past 20 years. Numbers have risen enomously during this period, as we can see by the number of dead badgers on the side of the roads.
The lack of hedgehogs is also down to predation by the badger as it is the only animal to eat them.
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it is time to cull the badgers in [to be humanly killed].
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why not try what tony blair used to call the third way. treat the badgers with antibiotics mixed with feed (say butter and pea-nuts) to cure the resovoir of infection.
the setts would have to be identified (but they would in the case of gassing) it would require a sustained effort 6-12 months
unfortunately this approach would probably not work for cattle raised for market at 2-3 years where culling is more effective
these antibiotics do exist. I know as they are currently used for humans, mostly in poorer nations
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40,000 cattle a year will be slaughtered because of TB, the same next year and the same the year after. If Badgers were culled now, in two years time it's plausible no animals would need to be killed because of TB. It needs a hard line to solve it and unfortunately this governmnet like all Labour governments try to cuddle up to both sides without ever actually getting anything done for the benefit of either.
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