We, the undersigned, call on the government to stop the planned cull of badgers on the following grounds:
· Over 70% of the badger population in large areas of the country will be killed, many of them healthy.
· The method of free-shooting badgers could cause severe pain to many thousands of badgers.
· Independent scientific studies have shown that culling would be of little help in reducing bovine TB, and even suggest that it could make things worse in some areas.
We urge the government to stop the cull and implement the more sustainable and humane solution of both a vaccination programme for badgers and cattle, along with improved testing and biosecurity.
Please add your voice to this petition, and tell the government to STOP killing our wildlife for profit and political expediency. They want to slaughter 70% of our badgers all for a possible 12% benefit over ten years. This is unacceptable in the 21st century when vaccination and bio-security measures exist to tackle the problem of TB in cattle.
Update: As of 26th May, the Environment Minister has announced that he intends to withdraw the badger's protected status and allow extermination of these wonderful creatures. This is a travesty!! We must NOT allow this to happen!!!
