8 Sept 2020
Group of high-profile veterinarians has written to the prime minister urging him to halt the expansion of the Government’s controversial badger cull.
James Westgate
Job Title
A group of high-profile vets has written to the prime minister urging him to halt the expansion of the Government’s controversial badger cull.
Culling of badgers across south‑west England has been a central part of the Government’s strategy to eradicate bTB by 2038, but the policy has always had fierce critics within the veterinary profession, with more than 100,000 badgers killed since the programme began in 2013.
In 2018, Charles Godfray led an internal Defra review into the eradication strategy, in response to which it was announced earlier this year that a cattle vaccination trial would be rolled out while the intensive culling of badgers would be scaled back.
However, the cull is set to resume this autumn with several new sites added, prompting a pressure group led by several high-profile vets – including former deputy UK CVO Alick Simmons – to write to Boris Johnson urging him to halt the plan.
In their letter they claim badgers are not heavily infected with bTB, that culling is ineffective and that current bTB testing protocols for cattle are creating a “hidden reservoir of infection” that will mean eradication of the infection will be “entirely unachievable”.
Writing to Mr Johnson, lead author Iain McGill said: “We note your Government responded to the Godfray review in March 2020 by stating it would ‘phase out’ intensive culling of badgers and, instead, move to badger vaccination.
“However, despite these promises, on 15 May 2020 the Government published supplementary badger control licences for all seven cull zones that had completed four years of culling under their original licences in 2019 (areas 4 to 10 inclusive).
“Indications suggest your Government intends to initiate a huge expansion of killing by issuing as many as 11 new licences this autumn.
“For 2020 this would bring the total number of cull zones to 54, covering an area of approximately 28,000 sq km, with in excess of 65,000 badgers being targeted.”
