Closed petition Stop The Badger Cull

Closed on 12 May 2012

Bovine TB (BTB) is a serious problem which must be tackled as millions of pounds are spent by government and farmers on culling infected cattle. Current plans are to fight BTB by culling badgers, where some farmers will be shoot to shoot badgers on their land. Current scientific evidence shows this will not significantly reduce BTB. In fact, BTB increases when badgers are culled due to migration / perturbation. Evidence suggests that the following are more effective ways of preventing BTB: Cattle testing and monitoring of cattle movement; Vaccination of cattle; Vaccination of badgers and other carriers, such as farmyard pets. More research is required into the development of BTB vaccines for badgers but, in the long run, this is highly likely to be the most effective means of eradicating BTB in the UK. This petition calls on the government to ensure that the scientific evidence is followed by NOT initiating a badger cull and to, instead, invest in the measures above.