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Badger cull credibility destroyed--says Trust

 

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE BADGER TRUST
SUBJECT: Letter in the Times 13th July 2011 from members of the Independent Scientific Group (ISG)
13 July 2011   

The Badger Trust welcomes the publication of the letter from the distinguished panel of scientists responsible for the report on the Randomised Badger Culling Trials (RBCT) which ended in 2007.  The Coalition Government itself in its consultation document published by DEFRA in September 2010, described the ISG report as being the only sufficiently rigorous one to be relied upon and the ISG's latest criticisms reinforce the widespread condemnation of Defra's proposals.

The text of the letter sent to the Times is reproduced below:

"Sir –

Sir David King’s article (“If we want dairy farms, we must cull badgers” 8 July 2011) contributes little scientific insight to the debate on controlling cattle TB. Defra has proposed that badger culls be initiated and funded by farmers themselves. Having overseen a decade-long programme of independently-audited and peer-reviewed research on this topic, we caution that such culls may not deliver the anticipated reductions in cattle TB. King previously agreed with our conclusion that – because of the way culling affects badgers’ ecology – only large-scale, highly coordinated, simultaneous and sustained culls could have positive impacts.  Delivering and maintaining such culls would raise substantial challenges for farmers, with a risk of increasing, rather than reducing, disease incidence. Defra’s own assessments suggest that participating farmers will lose more, financially, than they gain. King asserts that shooting free-ranging badgers – Defra’s preferred culling method – “would be an effective and considerably cheaper alternative”, but there are no empirical data on the cost or effectiveness (or indeed humaneness or safety) of controlling badgers by shooting, which has been illegal for decades. If the government decides to proceed with this untested and risky approach, it is vital that it also instigates well-designed monitoring of the consequences.

John Bourne, Christl Donnelly, David Cox, George Gettinby, John McInerney, Ivan Morrison & Rosie Woodroffe

Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB 1998-2007"  [1]

Badger Trust chairman David Williams said: "I sincerely hope that the Government will heed this advice - they promised to be guided by science and it is becoming abundantly clear that a cull which includes previously untried and untested methods will make matters worse rather than better. It is our clear view that the ISG's comments,  following on so closely to Lord Krebs' criticisms and the latest Imperial College research, are yet another damning indictment, from world renowned independent experts, of Defra's ill conceived slaughter plan, a plan which no longer has any scientific credibility." 

[1]  The Times (Letters) 13th July 2011

Jack Reedy, Media Advisor
BADGER TRUST 

 

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