More misery for badgers as Labour approves mass shooting
UK Government ignores internal expert advice as it sanctions further killing of badgers.
Natural England, the government agency supposedly responsible for protecting England’s wildlife, has for the second year running reportedly ignored the advice of its own Director of Science and issued further licences for the shooting of thousands more badgers across 9 killing zones in England, ostensibly to control the spread of bovine TB among cattle.
The so-called ‘supplementary licences’ are issued to cull zones that have already completed four years of intensive culls, enabling them to reap further devastation on those badgers who have thus far survived the carnage.
Responding to the news, veterinarian Dr Mark Jones, Born Free’s Head of Policy, said: “Born Free has always opposed badger culling as part of the Government’s efforts to control bovine TB in cattle, because it is unscientific, inhumane, ineffective and unnecessary. We had high hopes that the incoming Labour government would finally see sense, bring an end to the slaughter, and focus on the much-needed improvements to cattle testing, movement restrictions and vaccine development to bring cattle TB under control.
“However, the government seems intent on ignoring independent advice, and that from within its own licensing agency, and continuing this disastrous assault on one of our best loved wild mammals. Placating elements within the National Farmers Union is not a legal justification for killing badgers. This unjustified slaughter must be brought to an immediate end.”
According to the news reports, more than 10,000 badgers have been killed under the Labour government’s watch since it came into office last year on the back of a manifesto which labelled the killing ‘ineffective’. The new licences could see thousands more badgers being targeted this year, and could bring the total number of badgers killed under licence in England since 2013 to more than a quarter of a million.
Born Free continues to lead the challenge to the badger culling policy in England at the Council of Europe’s Bern Convention, alongside our partners at Badger Trust and Eurogroup for Animals, to which the UK is a signatory and under which badgers are a protected species.
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