Friday 17 September 2010

The UK Badger Cull-The latest victims of the meat and dairy industry.

Since the badger cull is in the news a lot lately, but many people either don't know about it or are confused, I thought I would provide a summary of the issue and my own comments on it. A lot of the press has been misleading or utterly false. Here I speak up for the badgers!

Basically the Conservatives/"Coalition" want to slaughter thousands of badgers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the next decade under the guise of "Bovine TB Control"-The previous government and multiple scientific bodies (who have been studying the connection between badgers and the spread of TB for decades), found badgers were NOT the main problem and a cull would not help and is indeed not justifiable-In fact it could actually make the problem worse. I have done the research myself, when I applied for a job with the League Against Cruel Sports I had to write a press release on the issue and spent a couple of weeks looking into it. There are cheaper, cruelty-free alternatives that involve no killing at all and would actually be more effective-Other countries have tried such alternatives and have had great success. The major problem in the spread of this disease is poor animal husbandry, movement of the animals and the sheer numbers animals are crammed into together. Mass production (aka Factory Farming) will always result in outbreak and fast spread of disease-as well as of course, extreme stress and cruelty upon the animals involved. In this instance it would appear that badgers are being used as a scape-goat for bad farming practices. Who better to blame than someone who cannot speak back? Why pay big to reform the way things are done when you can just shift the blame?