Badger culling - 'cruel and possibly illegal'
05 July 2006
The government is considering a widespread cull of up to a quarter of the UK badger population in an attempt to tackle the rising incidence of the cattle disease bovine Tuberculosis (bTB), but at least 80% of bTB outbreaks are attributed to cattle-to-cattle transmission.
Green Party Principal Speaker Keith Taylor said: "There is no scientific evidence to support a cull and this move to trial snaring badgers is cruel, possibly illegal and makes no sense. It is no wonder so many including the Royal Society, Sir David Attenborough, RSPCA, Soil Association and many others have come out against a cull. The government's own scientists have agreed saying that the way to address the disease is to reapply the strict TB testing and movement controls in cattle."
"Badger culling is a distraction - and the uncomfortable truth for the Government and intensive farming industry is that bovine TB is more likely to be spread between cattle kept in crowded quarters, and the answer is more likely to lie in improving animal welfare standards."
"The badger is being made a scapegoat to avoid tackling the real animal welfare and intensive farming issues which are at the root of the disease."
