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DAERA’s confirmation of an indiscriminate badger cull in Northern Ireland has been countered with severe criticism from Northern Ireland animal welfare charity, the USPCA. Today’s announcement, 24 March, saw the Department’s approval of the shooting of this protected species – a method which would be led by farmers as a means to ‘effectively’ tackle the prevalence of bovine TB in cattle.
The development comes following lengthy campaigning from the Charity and other animal/environmental organisations – including a petition in opposition to the cull which garnered the support of over 10,000 signatories and was presented to the Assembly.
USPCA Chief Executive, Brendan Mullan, said, “This cull is completely unacceptable and unjustifiable – we have pointed repeatedly to roadkill statistics and DAERA’s own TVR research project which indicates that 4 out of 5 badgers do not have TB. The Department’s actions will see the killing of thousands of healthy badgers and will be seen as nothing other than a wildlife catastrophe for Northern Ireland.
“We are of the view that this decision lacks the adoption of emerging science and research in tackling the disease. A recent study published in the official journal of the British Veterinary Association provided an extensive analysis of bTB incidence in England over an 11-year period and determined that, despite the culling of over 140,000 badgers, ‘government data failed to identify any meaningful effect of the cull’ on the prevalence of the disease in herds.”
The announcement today also included reference to ‘ensuring that high welfare standards are adhered to’ when carrying out the free shooting of badgers. Brendan commented, “The Westminster government’s own Independent Expert branded recent culls in England as ‘inhumane and ineffective’. In fact, the same panel also highlighted just how inhumane this method is and how much unthinkable suffering it causes – more than 20% of badgers shot took up to five minutes to die. In no society should this be acceptable.”
“Ultimately, a much more proportionate and humane approach is Trap, Vaccinate or Remove (TVR) – DAERA’s own research project demonstrated that this is an effective mechanism to reducing TB in badgers, with prevalence reduced from 14% to less than 2%. We are disappointed that this has been rejected on the basis of cost in favour of free shooting,” said Brendan.
DAERA’s initial consultation also cited potential changes to compensation rates and caps for affected farmers. Today it was announced that this review will be delayed for two years.
Brendan commented, “We do not agree that farmers’ should face compensation cuts however we believe that these payments should be contingent on whether farms meet high standards of biosecurity. DAERA’s consultation itself highlighted that ‘poor herd health management and lax biosecurity increases the risk of disease’. Furthermore, references to the compulsory use of interferon gamma blood testing ‘where deemed necessary’ is entirely the wrong approach. Current testing leaves one third of infected cattle in the herd and therefore results in a spiral of reinfection. Bovine TB is a cattle disease and the key actions to tackle it start on the farm – enhanced testing and superior biosecurity standards should be compulsory in all situations.”
“In conclusion, we are incredibly disappointed by DAERA’s decision today – badgers are not the culprit here and we fear in five years-time we will continue to see high prevalence of Bovine TB in herds, despite this cull. Our badger population will suffer gravely as a result and to what end?” added Brendan.
