Cure not Kill – Government presses ahead with badger vaccination scheme
Plans to vaccinate badgers in areas close to high-risk bovine TB (bTB) hotspots have been launched today by Defra
Plans to vaccinate badgers in areas close to high-risk bovine TB (bTB) hotspots have been launched today by Defra. The move, welcomed by Care for the Wild and the Badger Trust, will fund charities and other organisations to inoculate badgers against the disease which leads to the deaths of thousands of cows each year.
The Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme (BEVS) is part of the Government’s strategy to reduce bTB, with the intention of preventing the disease being carried out of hotspot areas by sick badgers.
Dominic Dyer, of the Badger Trust and Care for the Wild, said: “It’s great to see the government pushing ahead with this scheme. Care for the Wild and the Badger Trust were helping evolve a similar plan a year or so ago so it’s fantastic that this has taken shape and is being given the full backing of Defra.
“Badgers are no more than a minor player when it comes to bTB, as the latest evidence suggests they are responsible for less than 6% of new outbreaks of bTB, at most. But culling them is a completely pointless, unscientific and ultimately unsuccessful way of dealing with them, so focussing on vaccination in these key areas is a good way to go. It would be a real seal of approval to this policy if the new Environment Minister Liz Truss chaired the next BEVS stakeholder meeting to show that this is the way the government are heading.
“What we mustn’t do though is allow this to take our eyes off the key facts – the vast majority of new outbreaks of bTB come from cattle, not badgers. Up to 20% of the tests which show cattle are uninfected are wrong – meaning there are thousands of infected cattle hiding in herds, often until they die, spreading the disease without anyone knowing. We need to get on top of the testing, and on cattle movements which allow the disease to spread, rather than putting all our eggs in the very, very small badger basket.”
For more information on the badger cull, go to www.careforthewild.com/badger
1. Details of BEVS is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-information-note-badger-vaccination-fund-2014
2. The scheme will involve areas in the following counties: Hampshire, East Sussex, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Derbyshire and Cheshire.
