Elin Jones of the Welsh Assembly Government recently stated her intention to go ahead with the - as near as possible - total eradication of badgers in North Pembrokeshire, as part of a raft of measures in that area against bovine TB. WAG have now put up a Public Consultation on their website, until early July at:
http://wales.gov.uk/consultations/environmentandcountryside/090427constberadicationv2/?lang=en
All concerned members of the public, and all environmental and wildlife organisations, (whether inside or outside Wales) are urged to respond as soon as possible.
Please also ask all friends, colleagues, workmates and environmental groups to do the same. It is vital that WAG realise that the general public are well-informed about this issue and will not simply accept the wholesale slaughter of one of our most valued native mammals.
Apart from the ethical and environmental implications of eradicating such an important native mammal from such a large area, there is a great deal of evidence to show that, while cattle measures bring down the TB rate, badger culling actually makes matters worse. The internationally validated ISG study, based on 10 years of scientific research and costing over 12,000 badger lives, concluded unequivocally that 'badger culling has no meaningful part to play in TB control in Britain'.
In spite of this, there will be no attempt to evaluate the success of badger culling as distinct from the improved cattle testing, husbandry and biosecurity measures also being implemented. Instead, if TB rates go down in that area (as they almost certainly will as the result of the cattle measures , which have been shown to be successful elswhere) WAG will consider applying the same package, including badger eradication, in other areas of Wales.
Aberystwyth Against the Badger Cull, an umbrella campaign group for all individuals, groups and organisations against badger culling, has kindly sent us some helpful guidance on the Consultation document format, and some useful background information.
To see the Public Consultation Document in full, click here
For guidance on response click here
For sample email to send on, click here
For Trevor Lawson's (of the Badger Trust) report on TB and badgers in Wales, which contains a great deal of well-researched information, click here
For Badger Watch and Rescue Dyfed leaflet 'FAQs on Bovine TB', click here
Guardian article by George Monbiot