Shropshire TV

Are badgers to blame, or just a scapegoat?

Charles Henry
The collective ignorance of those opposed to a badger cull is really very disappointing. If they were to take the trouble to research the subject properly, and separate it from the emotion, they would understand why the government's chief scientist has had to come to the conclusion he has. But why won't anyone ever explain why they think it's ok for farmers cattle to be slaughtered, but not badgers? Badgers were gassed on the continent in the 60s & 70s because of rabies, and they were gassed in this country right into the 80s when the national herd that was completely 'brucellosis free' was achieved.(All such pathogens).

will
bagers are killing the britsh farmer. they should of kept the cull on bagers

chloe
to believe that badger culling is the answer is ridculous,why aren't the people who are blaming the badgers cross at the government for not paying out for the prevention of the disease, the vaccination which is proven to work. Instead of wasting our tax money on the slaughter of cattle and the cull of badgers, pay for the vaccination so that farmers can be reassurred that TB cannot affect their herd.

Kerry Lancaster
I feel it would be a good idea to cull badgers in affected areas to helP stop the spread of TB IN cattle! TB has a huge impact on farmers, its very stressful! If more and more bagers are contracting the disease there is a huge risk they will go extinct!

lizzie
I belive that it would be a good idea to control the numbers of badgers it the U.K. (if thats possible)because i think both farmers and the badgers would benifit from this.

scott lipscombe
I'm not happy with the dicisions that are being made with our wildlife. afterall, what we got, other than wildlife to make us feel human. personally, i think it's because badgers are slowly encrouching into our areas, as they naturally moving around, as we are away working more and more. i'm on the road alot and i see more and more dead badgers by the side of the road. perhaps the government are worried that these badgers, which are potentially dangerous and a threat to public safaty, and that's why they have made thier dicision. i hate the way it's all run here in britain. wildlife is amazing and shoud be left untouched. the way we live our lives is thoughtless..... i am very pleased you guys are intervening on it all. nice to know there are good solid human beings about still. badgers are a great joy to see, and harmless if left alone.i wish you the greatest luck with your campaign.scott lipscombe. keep at it. peace to you

Chris Bayliss
This is a complex problem, and the science is unclear, but in such an instance and given that their lives are at stake, I think we should give the benefit of the doubt to the badgers. Cattle movements certainly don't help, but I can't really understand the arguments against vaccination of cattle - it's known to work so why not do it? If it's a question of cost, can the cost be greater than the £90 million paid in compensation and likely cost of culling, with no certainty it will have any significant effect, except on badgers lives?

Carol
Perhaps the people who have made comments so far, would like to change place for a day with a farmer who keeps his stock in top conditions and has had no movements onto his farm for a year, then finds one of his best cows is a reacter. There are plenty of badgers on his farm - too many perhaps ie not enough food to go around. Due to the reacter he is shut down for at least 60 days probably longer, with no income. And don't say he has subsidies because that is a fallacy! Cull farmers instead of badgers? Don't worry the government are already doing a pretty good job of that! Farmers care about the countryside - the real countryside, not the one that most people think they know all about!

andrew
I believe we have to cull badgers in hot spot areas.Cattle in these areas are tested every six months for bTB so animals testing positive are removed from the herd before bTB can be transmitted to others within the herd. unfortunately this can not be said of the badgers who suffer a long lingering death transmitting vast quantities of bTB as their condition deteriorates. To protect the thousands of healthy badgers in the uk we must cull badgers in hot spot areas otherwise badgers will become extinct.

Vince
Badgers are a wonderful animal, like most of the animals in the UK, but they need controlling. If badgers were digging up your garden or footings of your house, I think you may want them stopped. Yes they do eat worms,but they also eat leverets ( young hares),dig out nest's of rabbits, and eat ground nesting birds. You only have to drive around our country roads to see them dead on the verge, after being run over. We need commonsense over the issue.

James
Having watched fields of cows mysteriously disappear as soon as Defra comes around to check about TB I think the farmers have to take a lot of the blame for the spread of TB themselves. Of course they get compensated so they have no incentive to improve their practices. The same happened with the recent Foot & Mouth restrictions - the day they were announced there was suddenly massive activity moving livestock about before the official notices arrived - can't they understand the movement restrictions are for the good of all and are not to be just ignored for their own convenience.

abbey
i think culling badgers is sick they aint done nothing wrong they are wild animals they are bound to get dieases. just like humans but we dont kill them

Chris Westwood
Badgers may well spread TB - but birds spread avian flu so what is next, a massive cull of all wild birds and the decimation of migrant species? I wonder how much it costs to cull thousands of badgers, more than the farmers get in compensation? There has to be a way for farming and wildlife to co-exist without either culling our children's heritage or the farmers hard won profits - but it is probably just easier to arrange to kill everything instead.

Kathryn Downes
I don't know all the ins and outs of the TB debate and I won't pretend to but I do know that badgers are beautiful, fascinating animals and that man wreaks infinitely more havoc on the environment than badgers ever will and no, I'm not just being sentimental. If badgers are culled and there is still TB cases coming to light in cattle which species will be blamed then?

crystal
badgers may be 2 blame, but culling them obviously isn't the answer to the problem. better bio-security and hygiene on farms definitely needs to be considered as a way solve the problem. why are we obsessed with killing things anyway, does nobody even consider any alternatives??

MR OZZY
I think that we should leave badgers alone!!! If badgers are passing TB onto cows we should make better security around farms e.g. electric fences to stop them getting close to cows. there is no need to kill the poor things

Krys Badger
Since when has science proven everything?And for badgers there is definitely NO proof.

Philip H-B
Instead of this Government wasting millions in Iraq it should focus on domestic health and agricultural research. Badgers can be very destructive, but then internal combustion engines would appear to be far more harmful to humanity and the destruction of planet earth. In passing, I would suggest the damage caused by badgers to cars is partly the result of excessive speeding.

orlagh nolan
i feel sorry for the poor badgers they probably got TB from the cows anyway

Andrew Price
Very good Chris

mrs .maria.chamberlain
Leave our wild life alone .

Huw Jones
Yes, i think they are and we should be allowed to shoot badgers to bring down the number of TB in cattle.

Vicky
A few bits of interesting information.....bTB was never wiped out in the UK, it merely declined until the 1970's after the introduction of test and slaughter in the 1950s, "hotspots" remained in the South-West of England. The Irish study was shown to be scientifically flawed as there was no control sites provided for comparison (controls being considered essential in all scientific studies) therefore the results tend not to be considered. Polecats/feral ferrets excrete the M. bovis bacteria to the same extent as badgers (admittedly the population is very much lower). M bovis is also carried by rats, deer, foxes, pigs, dogs, cats and a number of other hosts. A number of scientific studies have also shown that the bacteria can remain viable (therefore infective) in the soil for months so even if badgers were removed cattle could be re-infected. bTB was beginning to decline prior to foot & mouth, re-stocking of animals after this didn't always include Tuberculin testing and bTB then went up. Increased testing from 2005 has resulted in bTB beginning to decline again. The tuberculin test is less than 70% effective therefore infected animals in the earliest stages can be missed, remain in the herd, then infect other herd members. Cattle can give bTB to badgers as much as the other way round. Culling badgers disrupts the social organisation resulting in increased movement within and outside of the cull area increasing the chances of bTB being spread. There's plenty of other information out there - and not just from Badger Groups! :-p Yes - Badgers can be destructive, they can destroy hedgerows with their digging, tear up fences, cause serious damage to your car if you're unfortunate to hit one, overturn dustbins and the turf they turn over when hunting for earthworms can cause farm animals to stumble and break legs. However, I have severe doubts a cull is the solution.

colin
Why is man's natural reaction to kill what it doesn't understand? Badgers have as much right to life as do cattle. In the end it's not about the cattle - it's about money, as the cattle will ultimately be culled for financial gain. The badger is just the scapegoat in the end - man's age old need to blame something, instead of finding a proper solution (which culling isn't!)

ste
badgers are vermin and are contributing heavily to the increase in bovine tb. this lands more costs onto the already struggling dairy industry. a large scale culling is the only way to stop the increasing tb problem.

Cannonade
Culling badgers is sick and barbaric. I agree with other comments that it is more likely cows give badgers bTB. Badgers are beautiful animals, peaceful if left alone and are very shy. Let their population grow again, their numbers are reducing with illegal digging.

John
Cattle are kept in overcrowded, unnatural and filthy conditions. Nature tries to combat this with deseases. Badgers, although increasing, are not overcrowded, they are also very clean, soiled bedding taken out replaced by clean bedding regulary. So it is more probable that cattle pass T.B. onto Badgers.

Mrs M. Morton.
Having studied badgers for many years and read widely about their habits, badgers alone do not spread TB, it already lies within the soil and is very difficult to remove, all cattle should be vaccinated as are humans, In South Africa TB is everywhere but they have no badgers, they believe it is spread by all hooved animals particularly deer.

David
Of course they should be culled, Irish studies show that culling will solve the problem, don't let's be sentimental.

David
Badgers must be culled. Now that the population is so high in this country tb has increased. Something has to be done in the form of control...

Bryan
it might seem simple, but how do we know badgers arent a victim, opposed to the being the source of bTB in cattle? To me, this seems like such and obvious idea and one that i cant get out of my head. Because if my theory is correct surely we could just track down the source of the disease and deal with it.

Lucy
The evidence in support of a cull is at best patchy. What is needed, as studies have shown, is a vaccination program for cattle to prevent the infection and spread of BTB. To sanction the killing of a protected species would be outrageous.

BBC Shropshire
In 2004 £90.5 million was paid in compensation to farmers across the UK.

Lois
Do the farmers receive compensation for each cow that has to be killed?

lll.610o
Badgers must be culled. TB was completely wiped out until the badger population increased during the last 10 years. Herds which were completely free are now getting reactors. Why? Badgers have returned to these farms.

Dave Bunn
I really believe that badgers are not carriers of TB at all, it is just an old wives tale put about by farmers.

John Harding
There is insufficient scientific evidence to warrant a mass killing of badgers. Perhaps the experts should firstly restrict the movement of cattle across the country. The widespread movement of cattle may well spread the disease. John Harding - Whitchurch

Michael Tench
I think that the badgers, should be left alone. The farmers, are using them as scapegoats. In my opinion, it's the farmers we should be culling.