19 July 2011

Defra secretary Caroline Spelman today announced plans to cull badgers as part of a package of measures comprising the Bovine TB Eradication Programme for England. She revealed that the Westminster government “is strongly minded to allow a science-led cull of badgers in the worst affected areas.”

In a statement, Defra announced that cattle measures, including routine testing and surveillance, pre-movement testing, movement restrictions and removal and slaughter of infected animals will remain the foundation of the TB eradication programme. The department will invest £20 million over the next five years to develop vaccines for cattle and badgers.

However, the most controversial aspect of the eradication package will no doubt be the government’s announcement that plans will go ahead to license groups of farmers and landowners to carry out “science-led, strictly controlled” killing of badgers in the worst hit areas. 

Spelman issues strong support for pilot culls

Pilot culls are set to go ahead, although their locations have yet to be decided and the environment secretary’s statement in Parliament did not give a definite green light to the plans; a further consultation must now take place over licensing conditions with Natural England.  

Ms Spelman offered her justification for the decision, “We cannot go on like this. Many farmers are desperate and feel unable to control the disease in their herds. And we know that unless we tackle the disease in badgers we will never be able to eradicate it in cattle. We also know that there is no country in the world which has successfully controlled TB in cattle without addressing its presence in the wildlife population.”

She continued, “Ultimately, we want to be able to vaccinate both cattle and badgers, and we’re investing in research – but there are serious practical difficulties with the injectable badger vaccine, which is the only available option.”

If the proposals are accepted after the consultation, badger control licences would be issued by Natural England to enable groups of farmers and landowners to kill badgers “at their own expense” by controlled shooting. The pilots would be overseen by an independent panel of scientific experts, who would then decide whether or not to roll out the method more widely.

Buffers and hard boundaries, such as motorways and rivers, will be encouraged to minimise the perturbation effect, whereby badgers fleeing an area spread out, causing an initial rise in disease outbreaks in a ring around the culling area.

Opposition to the plans

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) offered its support for the plans in a statement issued today (19th July). The statement, by the Association's specialist cattle division said "the available science supported the case for a badger cull."

Defra and pro-cull lobbyists in the farming industry have cited other countries where culls have been credited with reducing the incidence of bTB, however, Lord Krebs, the government advisor who oversaw the most significant review on badgers and bTB and who orchestrated a ten year trial cull, publicly dismissed the idea of culling as “ineffectual.” Lord Krebs said improved security for cattle, which would prevent them coming into contact with badgers, further development of vaccines and increased control measures to prevent the spread in cattle would be more productive.

The trial showed that a four year cull of badgers resulted in a 16% reduction in herds, which although it has been hailed as a success, Krebs said is insufficient to justify a widespread cull.

Krebs said in The Guardian, "You cull intensively for at least four years, you will have a net benefit of reducing TB in cattle of 12% to 16%. So you leave 85% of the problem still there, having gone to a huge amount of trouble to kill a huge number of badgers. It doesn't seem to me an effective way of controlling the disease."

Nearly 25,000 cattle were slaughtered in England in 2010 because of bovine TB, which cost the country £90 million last year. The problem is particularly bad in west and south-west England, where 23 per cent of cattle farms were unable to move stock off their premises at some point in 2010 due to bTB. The Labour party has criticised the coalition’s decision and animal welfare campaigners have pledged to launch a legal challenge to the measures which Ms Spelman acknowledged could yet be scuppered.