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Badger Cull

southstand1882

Mitchell Thomas
So what are YOU doing to protest?

110912BrianMay_6652905.jpg


No more Apartheid
 
I was thinking about dressing up as a badger and stalking Brian May, but looks like you beat me to it Southy :(

Get your hair cut btw.
 
Not sure about badgers, but if we cut off Brian May's hair it would probably cure the world of head lice and nits.

As for the poor badgers, it is a sad situation but I can't help but think that if it sorts out the problem in the short term whilst they develop a valid vaccination that can go direct to the cattle, then it will be worth it.

The total eradication of badgers would be completely unacceptable, but my understanding is the cull would leave more than enough of the population to repopulate once a viable vaccine has been developed? I certainly cannot see the problem in using a trial area to see if culling is valid at least.

Does anyone know was the compensation paid to farmers affected by TB directly linked in any way to the monies that came in from the European rebate that Blair/Brown managed to throw away? Seeing as the rebate had a lot to do with farming.
 
What do badgers contribute to our ecosystem anyway?

They help sway football scores in North London, which in turn stops the over inflation of Scum egos, which then in turn ensures that the ecosystem is not overloaded by methane emissions from the flimflam that emits from those insufferable ****s mouths.
 
they should leave the badgers alone, it's the farmers responsibility to keep them (and foxes, stoats, et al) away from their livestock and to inoculate them accordingly
 
they should leave the badgers alone, it's the farmers responsibility to keep them (and foxes, stoats, et al) away from their livestock and to inoculate them accordingly

From the little I understand it seems like a very difficult situation. The only way to inoculate a badger at the moment is through injection. To inoculate anything nearing the population, even locally to specific farms, would be near impossible (they need an oral alternative to be effective). Then the problem is exacerbated in that there is no vaccine approved for cattle full stop at the moment. With best laid plans, we look to be at least 5-10 years away from a vaccine solution. So in the mean time, a partial cull seems to be the only solution as farmers cannot rely on the government to bail them out when they have to slaughter their herds.

As it stands, the only winner in all this will be the big boys like ConAgra who will win all of British cattle farming through default when the independents go completely bust. That means the death of many small enterprises, the death of competition and probably the death of all dairy and beef quality produced in the UK... Doesn't sound very good to me. Like I say, I haven't followed this very much but that seems to be the layman's view of the thing?
 
yeah i meant inoculate the cattle, that has to be the priority

other than that just keep the cattle somewhere the badgers can't get to, its not rocket science
 
yeah i meant inoculate the cattle, that has to be the priority

other than that just keep the cattle somewhere the badgers can't get to, its not rocket science

LOL, how in the name of jiggery fudge do you keep a grazing animal away from nature. You would literally have to build concrete walls around the whole of Britain and give them 10ft foundations to keep wild animals away from livestock!!! It is actually impossible.
 
i wish i'd used the phrase biosecurity in my posts above

bottom line for me, you can't go killing an indigenous species of fauna just because its costing you a few quid, especially from a country that has publicly derided japanese whaling
 
LOL, how in the name of jiggery fudge do you keep a grazing animal away from nature. You would literally have to build concrete walls around the whole of Britain and give them 10ft foundations to keep wild animals away from livestock!!! It is actually impossible.

pretty much, it would have to be a bit like jurassic park

i'm thinking 2 layers of electric mesh fencing, all 4 sides and subterranean layers obviously, then we're fine until badgers learn to fly
 
pretty much, it would have to be a bit like jurassic park

i'm thinking 2 layers of electric mesh fencing, all 4 sides and subterranean layers obviously, then we're fine until badgers learn to fly

Or maybe we call in an Israeli contractor. They can build a wall wicked quick :-#
 

An well written and thought out article. The bit about intensification of farming being a factor in the incidence of bovine TB was interesting. The spread of foot and mouth in the last outbreak was attributed to the large distances cattle are moved to the few mega-abattoirs.

Here is a new criticism of the badger cull by scientists: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/13/badger-cull-mindless

.... the scientists reject the idea of scientific support for the cull, which could wipe out 100,000 badgers, a third of the national population. The cull policy is "mindless", according to Lord John Krebs, one of the UK's most eminent scientists and the architect of the landmark 10-year culling trials that ended in 2007. "The scientific case is as clear as it can be: this cull is not the answer to TB in cattle. The government is cherry-picking bits of data to support its case."

Another signatory, Lord Robert May, a former government chief scientist and president of the Royal Society, said: "It is very clear to me that the government's policy does not make sense." He added: "I have no sympathy with the decision. They are transmuting evidence-based policy into policy-based evidence."

Brilliant line. This is happening more and more, notably the climate debate in the US plus Nigel Lawson and a few of his cronies at The Telegraph.

... David Cameron ... said last week: "I believe this is the right policy for healthy badgers as well as healthy cattle."

Killing healthy badgers is good for them?

It is probably good for Tory Party coffers. The big intensive farming enterprises like the cull as it deflects attention from their role. I wonder how many are Tory Party donors.
 
What do badgers contribute to our ecosystem anyway?

They eat wasps! I watched a large alpha male dig a hole about a foot deep in my orchard, and then munch how way through a whopping big wasp's nest. Didn't give two hoots about the stings. At my local, badgers are a banned discussion subject as opinion is polarised between the pro-cull and the anti-cull... there is no agreement between farmers who live next door to each other! Some argue that the cull makes the position worse as badgers soon re-colonise culled areas, and bring the disease back, whilst others argue that that the link between Badgers and TB is not 100% proven.
Personnally, I think it is wrong to try and eradicate a native species to the UK to support a human imposed population of cattle that have become susceptible to TB as a result of the selective breeding programmes employed over the last 40 years. Let the badgers live!
 
I think that the anti phalanx are being a little short sighted about this (probably because they are so against any sort of killing of animals, which I guess is understandable). But if they are so sure that the trial areas are likely to exacerbate their own problem, then surely letting two controlled trials areas prove them right is in their benefit in the long term if it means that they prevent the scheme from being implemented on a country wide basis?
 
Why go ahead with the trials when the scientific evidence is against them working? That's what the scientists are saying (see above articles).
 
They eat wasps! I watched a large alpha male dig a hole about a foot deep in my orchard, and then munch how way through a whopping big wasp's nest. Didn't give two hoots about the stings. At my local, badgers are a banned discussion subject as opinion is polarised between the pro-cull and the anti-cull... there is no agreement between farmers who live next door to each other! Some argue that the cull makes the position worse as badgers soon re-colonise culled areas, and bring the disease back, whilst others argue that that the link between Badgers and TB is not 100% proven.
Personnally, I think it is wrong to try and eradicate a native species to the UK to support a human imposed population of cattle that have become susceptible to TB as a result of the selective breeding programmes employed over the last 40 years. Let the badgers live!

Where would your local be? I know your area very well
 
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