Vets Call for Badger Cull Change
UK – A veterinary body has withdrawn support for the current method of controlled shooting of badgers in the south west of England.
22 April 2015
1 minute read
Badgers should be cage-trapped and shot for the rest of the four year badger cull trials in West Somerset and Gloucestershire, says the British Veterinary Association.
However, the Association also called for wider culling strategies to be deployed across the country.
The BVA described using cages as a “tried and tested” method and that it remains supportive of badger culling as a necessary part of a comprehensive strategy for TB control and eradication.
BVA President, John Blackwell repeated that BVA support is based on the humane, safe and effective delivery of culling.
He said: “BVA supported the pilots to test the use of controlled shooting but data from the first two years of culling has not demonstrated conclusively that controlled shooting can be carried out effectively and humanely based on the criteria that were set.
He insisted badger culling “must form part of the comprehensive strategy for tackling bovine TB”.
“We are therefore calling for the culls in West Somerset and West Gloucestershire to be completed using the tried and tested method of cage trapping and shooting, and for culling to be rolled out to other carefully selected areas using this method.”
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