Badger Cull

[Penfold]

Having been listening to the debate on the go-ahead given to free badger shooting on two pilot test sites, I have decided to sign the petition opposing the scheme.

I have listened to the general debate on the subject but what fully swung me was the pro argument where the spokesman said something along the lines that the test sites were not to determine whether destroying badgers would have an effect on cattle contracting bovine TB but whether free shooting was an ethical way of disposing of them. If anyone else wishes to sign the petition, the link is below.

http://www.teambadger.org/

[Dotsie]

Whilst it's true that badgers can transmit bovine TB, the numbers of carriers are so low that an effective cull would have to wipe them out. Research has shown that wildlife is not an important reservoir of infection, but the idea of culling cattle doesn't sit well with farmers, and if they can save their business by slaughtering any wildlife they come across, why wouldn't they?

FYI, bovine TB has also been isolated from bank voles, moles, etc, etc. I don't want to see our wildlife disappear

[Tonyblack]

I think I've got my facts straight here - because of public pressure, the badger cull was abandoned in Wales in favour of vaccination. It's a situation that the farmers aren't happy with, but the public do have a voice and politicians would do well to remember this.

As far as I'm aware the badgers catch the virus from cattle in the first place and unwittingly pass it on. It seems to me that if the TB was eradicated in cattle herds then the badgers couldn't pass it on. Most of the British public would hate the thought of the mass destruction of badgers or any other British wildlife.

[Tonyblack]

Signed!

My friend is very much into this and has protested outsider the Welsh Assembly. Her group did a lot tomake the public aware of this issue and seldom had anyone refusing to sign.

You might have noticed that the petition has been brought by Dr Brian May. Yes, that Brian May of Queen.

[raisindot]

As a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, whose mascot is the badger, I wholeheartedly agree with this ban.

[The Mad Collector]

Different animal but I'm with you all the way Raisindot, I used to live in Mlwaukee


American Badger


European Badger

[Jason]

Signed.

[Who's Wee Dug]

Signed.

[Penfold]

Thank you all, the number of people who have signed currently stands at 52,545.

[janet]

Signed.