Court of Appeal success reinforces value of badger cull injunction
The Court of Appeal’s unanimous dismissal of an animal rights activist’s appeal after he was found in breach of a High Court injunction reinforces the value and importance of the injunction for protecting farmers, the NFU said today. Jay Tiernan, who has been described as the leader of the ‘Stop the Cull’ movement, launched an […]
BVA calls for change to badger culling method and wider roll-out in England
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has called for the four-year culls of badgers in West Somerset and West Gloucestershire to be completed using the ‘tried and tested’ method of cage trapping and shooting only. In light of the results from two years of culling in the two pilot areas, BVA has concluded that it can […]
Evidence stacks up against badger cull
Continuing reductions in the rate of bovine TB (bTB) in the south west of England – outside the badger cull zones – have been revealed, alongside a bombshell from Defra’s Chief Scientist who admitted this week that research says only 6% of new bTB outbreaks come directly from badgers. At a TB conference hosted by […]
Leaked badger cull costs miss £3.5million police price tag
Leaked figures from Defra published today have revealed the cost of the 2013 badger cull – but missed out £3.5 million spent on policing the operation. A report in the Daily Telegraph today says that each badger killed during last year’s cull cost £3000, with 1,879 badgers being killed at the cost of £6.3 million. […]
Badger Trust legal challenge over monitoring of badger cull to be heard by Court of Appeal
The Badger Trust will take its legal challenge over the lack of independent monitoring of the badger culls currently being undertaken in Somerset and Gloucestershire to the Court of Appeal on Thursday 9 October. This follows a hearing on 11 September where the Vice President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal agreed that […]
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. 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 […]
MPs told: Owen Paterson is ‘playing politics’ with wildlife protection
Owen Paterson made no attempt to meet the Independent Expert Panel following the publication of their highly critical report into last year’s pilot badger culls, according to panel member Professor Tim Coulson. Speaking at meeting on Monday hosted by the Badger Trust & Care for the Wild and attended by over 40 MPs, researchers and […]
87% say ‘badgers should not be killed’ as NFU meets anti-cullers in prestigious debate
Killing badgers is not necessary to eradicate bovine TB (bTB), according to the results of a prestigious debate about the badger cull which brought opposing sides of the argument – and a TV expert – together for the first time. Audience members at the Bristol University debate, which featured […]
NFU statement on Gloucestershire Police webcast
The NFU has issued a statement following last night’s webcast in which Gloucestershire Police and Crime Commissioner Martin Surl questioned the Chief Constable and other senior officers about the policing of last year’s badger cull. NFU Deputy President Minette Batters said: “As a membership organisation, the NFU carefully considered all the legal options available to […]
