The RSPCA has condemned the Government's decision to continue the badger cull in 29 areas with a kill target of 24,070 and the charity is repeating its calls for an immediate and permanent halt to the programme.  

Adding these new numbers to the 29 areas announced earlier this year linked to a target of 29,164 kills, this could result in a potential 53,234 badgers being culled this year, leading to potentially more than 260,000 badgers killed in culls since 2013.

The announcement of new culling targets comes despite the Westminster Government making a commitment to move away from culling badgers in favour of vaccinating, and to develop more cattle based measures such as a more sophisticated TB testing regime. 

The RSPCA's long-held view that the cull is cruel, pointless and ineffective is borne out by a recent study analysing the government's own data which found no evidence that culling badgers has had an effect on bTB in cattle. 

RSPCA Director of Policy Emma Slawinski said: "We are dismayed that the Westminster Government is persisting with its inhumane and ineffective badger cull despite its commitment to 'government-supported badger vaccination and surveillance'.

"A landmark report published last year confirms our long-held assertion that culling badgers does not prevent bovine TB in cattle.

"We are calling on the Government to immediately end culling, fast track its proposed improvements to cattle based measures, along with cattle and badger vaccination, which will be the best solution for badgers, cattle and farmers."

Earlier in 2022, the government did announce an initiative to simplify the badger bTB vaccination licence, which could help to reduce bTB in badgers. But the RSPCA says that if the aim of Defra's policy is to eliminate bTB in cattle, then the focus should be on cattle-based measures since research shows that the overwhelming majority of bTB comes from cattle infecting cattle. 

Emma continued: "The RSPCA has always maintained that the elimination of bTB in cattle requires more frequent and improved cattle testing, better management of cattle movements and incentives to improve biosecurity in herds. We believe that badger vaccination is an important tool that has a role to play in certain situations as an alternative to culling and to protect badger populations but we cannot support its use as an exit strategy from the badger cull which should end immediately." 

Research continues to highlight the more important role that cattle-to-cattle transmission plays in the spread of this terrible disease. There is also growing official recognition that badgers are being infected by cattle and the problems of cattle movements.  The Government has itself acknowledged that in Lincolnshire, badgers were "originally infected multiple times by cattle" emphasising that badgers are the innocent victims of a policy that fails to stop TB being moved around the country by cattle.

"For too long the Government has chosen to look the other way as it determinedly pursues an ill-conceived course of action - culling - with no scientific basis and no success, instead promoting cruelty and wasting time and money. It should now wholly embrace the conclusive study which reveals its culling strategy is futile and put in place a cattle-focused bTB eradication policy that is based on science rather than political expediency.

"We are calling on the Government in England to fast track its proposed improvements to cattle based measures, along with badger vaccination, which will be the best solution for badgers, cattle and farmers."