Badgers need culling.

They ARE responsible for bovine TB which is costing farmers and the economy tens of thousands of pounds. They ARE responsible for the reduction in the hedgehog population. It is all very well a load of townies thinking they are sweet looking creatures, but without a reduction in their numbers, we might find hedgehogs on the endangered creature list in the UK.

 

thats the strangest way I have seen someone announce

that they are a ******

 

The Evidence suggests otherwise.

 

and that evidence is pretty much documented in all the countries that have tried the cull so far.

 

Forget it. Xerxes has spoken.

 

is he related to Hemsie in any way

just wondering

 

save the badgers but shoot the ragheads. That seems to be the morality and politics of some on here.

 

Not for me. Save both.

 

gets my vote..however

will it reduce bovine TB

 

Nonsense.

 

so do badgers eat hedghogs then... I allus thowt

it were Pikeys that did that , from Donny.

 

Re: so do badgers eat hedghogs then... I allus thowt

I got this from my local MP after writing a letter of protest. She'll have splinters in her arse no doubt.




RE: Badger culling

Thank you very much for getting in touch with me regarding the trials of badger culls scheduled to take place in Gloucestershire and Somerset. There are strong views on both sides of this debate.

A cull is never a desirable option – but in the past it has proved necessary to prevent the spread of dangerous diseases like Foot and Mouth. In light of the spread of bovine TB (bTB), the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has again felt it necessary to consider a cull. These decisions are never taken lightly, and are always subject to evidence and strong assurances that such action is necessary.

Initially, Defra had planned a cull in October. That was postponed, as the Department discovered that the farmer-led companies performing the trials were not resourced enough to provide reliable scientific data. We must not cull badgers unnecessarily, and I’m glad that Defra took decisive action to postpone.

Since then, Defra have gathered more evidence and expert advice. They are sure that badgers spread bTB to cattle, and are confident that culling badgers reduces the level of infection in cattle herds – the Randomised Badger Culling Trial showed that culling reduces incidences of bTB by 31.5%.

They have therefore, taken the difficult decision to hold more trials on selected test areas. After this, a panel of independent experts will evaluate the impact of the culls before reporting back to the Government.

Only then will a decision be made on rolling out trials more widely. In the meantime, the Government remains committed to developing an effective vaccine. Unfortunately, no such vaccine currently exists.

This is a divisive issue. Some people are calling for a mass cull of badgers, and others call for no cull at all. Defra is taking the approach of trailing culls and closely monitoring the results, in order to find the best way to deal with the dangerous problem of bTB. With all things considered, and in light of the current evidence, I do feel this approach is a measured one.

Thank you for getting in touch with me about this. I will be sure to pass your views on to the Secretary of State at Defra, and keep you updated with any developments.

Kind regards,

Lynne Featherstone MP
Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green

020 8340 5459

 

I very much doubt badgers have anything to do with the decline of hedgehogs, they've lived together for millions of years so why would they only have an impact now?

The main responsibility for that is decline of hedgehog numbers imho is probably man. Whether it be the destruction of their habitat such as paving over gardens, the destruction of hedgerows or fences that don't allow them to move about their territory to the use of pesticides that kill off the insects they eat or even the pesticides themselves killing the hedgehogs.

 

I don't claim to know both sides of the argument well enough to say either side is correct however what I do know is that stating your own case and capitalising certain words DOES NOT make you right. You seem so certain about your case yet you failed to provide one single shred of fact to back up your argument. I have heard both sides of the argument over the last few days and at this stage I think the case against the cull is the strongest.

 

hedgerows are once again (not before time) being reintroduced on farmed fields as are boarders where no farming is allowed.Some fields I shoot on all have to keep a large perimeter boarder (approx. 10m) where the land is untouched and pesticide free,as far as i'm aware its to encourage songbirds,but without doubt other mammals are definitely on the increase.

 

Exactly that. It will explain where the garden birds, butterflies and bees have gone. Not that many folk will notice. It's a human problem, lets have a cull.

 

Can't enforce farmers to just innoculate cattle can you - no, because farmers generally vote Conservative and that wouldn't do!

 

Never read such a ridiculous load of crap in my entire life.

 

This debate is not new, Labour had years to make innoculation mandatory and they didn't force the issue either..

 

What makes you the expert. Can you explain in detail why Badgers are the assassins of hedgehogs and cattle. If we vaccinated the Badgers would this eliminate them from the so called blame. There are worse things in this country that requires culling