Nearly 25,000 cattle were slaughtered in England in 2010 because of bovine TB, which cost's the country £90 million each year.
The British public don't want to support their local farmers in the TB campaign, this is causing more and more farmers loosing their stock. If the UK was clear of TB then TB infected meat most certainly wouldn't be getting into the human food chain but because everyone want to save a badger then im afaraid it's just going to get worse and worse.
Key facts and figures
- 5.5 Million – total number of TB tests on cattle in England in 2011.
- 28,000 – approximate number of cattle slaughtered for TB control in England in 2012.
- 3,900 – approximate number of new TB incidents in 2012 (herds where at least one animal tests positive for bovine TB, when the herd had previously been TB free).
- 11.5% of cattle herds in England were under cattle movement restrictions at some point in 2011 (the 2012 statistics will be published once additional quality assurance checks have been completed).
- 23.6% of cattle herds in the South-West were under cattle movement restrictions at some point in 2011 (the 2012 statistics will be published once additional quality assurance checks have been completed).
- £500 million – the amount it has cost the taxpayer to control the disease in England in the last 10 years.
- £1 billion – estimated cost of TB control in England over the next decade without taking further action.
- £34,000 – the average cost of a TB breakdown on a farm, of which around £12,000 falls to the farmer.
We can’t escape the fact that the evidence supports the case for a controlled reduction of the badger population in areas worst affected by bovine TB. With the problem of TB spreading and no usable vaccine on the horizon, It is only right the cull to be carried out by groups of farmers and landowners, as part of a science-led and carefully managed policy of badger control.
