Do you live in a Badger Cull area?

www.savebadger.co.uk

As you know, despite many of us contacting our MPs and urging the government to rethink plans for a badger cull they have ignored our please and announced a badger cull in England.  This will initially go ahead in two pilot areas.

The RSPCA says that "badgers are now in serious danger and widespread culling could see populations decline by more than 70% in some areas".

The RSPCA continues to campaign for badgers on a local level but needs help from anybody who lives in the pilot or surrounding areas.

The first pilot cull will take place in the district of West Somerset, partly in Taunton Deane.

The second is mainly within the Forest of Dean and Tewkesbury and partly in the districts of Wychavon, Malvern Hills and West Gloucestershire.

If you or your friends and family live around any of the areas mentioned above and would like to help please contact campaigns@rspca.org.uk

Thank you.

Christmas is cancelled for Badgers.

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I was saddened to hear the Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelman's announcement yesterday that badger culls in two trial areas of the UK will be going ahead in late autumn next year in an attempt to control Bovine TB.

Caroline was my MP for a number of years when I lived in her constituency, she has always responded to my numerous letters and e-mails on various animal welfare issues, I wrote to her several times about this issue and I am disappointed that she, and the Government as a whole, have ignored both science and members of the public in order to come to this decision.

Watch Caroline's announcement here.

In response to the announcement Humane Society International is submitting a formal complaint against the policy and stated that ministers had failed to examine alternatives to the cull and claimed it lacked "legitimate purpose" whilst posing a significant threat to badger populations.  Read what the HSI has to say here.

The League Against Cruel Sports has also expressed dismay at the decision and accused the Government of being cowardly, not acting appropriately and ignoring science, public opinion and past mistakes.  Read more from the League here.

Read my previous badger cull posts here and here to gain some background information

Contact Caroline Spelman by e-mailing her at caroline@carolinespelman.com and politely let her know you oppose the decision for a trail cull to go ahead.  

Key points to bring up in the e-mail include: 

- Why did you decide upon this action when there is a distinct lack of evidence that a badger cull would be effective? 

- How are the Government going to prosecute people that use the badger cull as an excuse for the unlicensed shooting of badgers?

- How will this effect the population of badgers?

- Which alternatives were examined and why weren't they feasible?

If you haven't already, sign this petition for 38 Degrees asking the government to re-think.

Check out the Badger Protection League web page.

Follow me on Twitter for all the latest news (I am using this a lot more lately as it is a fantastic way to obtain information and spread the word)

Thank you.

URGENT Back off Badgers Petition!

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 The government is consulting on their plans for the badger cull from now until 20th September which means we don't have much time to urge them to cancel their plan.

38 Degrees held a vote and 87% of participants are against the government's plans to shoot England's badgers.

Please sign the petition here and show your support for a long term, scientific approach to tackling TB in cows and against  the governments plan to shoot our badgers.  If we don't stop them, the badger shoots could begin in a just a few months time.

The government has scrapped trials of badger vaccines and are going against their own scientific advisers and launching the cull which experts say won't solve the Bovine TB problem.

Please spare just 30 seconds to sign this petition and share with your friends.  Thank you.

Breaking News: A Black Day for Badgers

Yesterday it was confirmed by the government that they will be going ahead with a badger cull in England.  This means that at least 70 per cent of the badger population could be killed as part of measures aiming to control bovine TB in cattle.

The RSPCA believes that the government has made the wrong decision and the cull will contribute nothing to the goal of eradicating bovine TB but will wipe out a large number of badgers most of which are completely healthy.

How to Help:

Please join the RSPCA's Facebook Campaign.

The League Against Cruel Sports article on the sad news.

Please sign the League's petition here.

Update: Thursday 21st July

Check out this excellent site from the Badger Protection Leage.  It has numerous ways to help including a petition, so well worth a visit.

Please don't forget to spread the word!

Back Off Badgers! - Update

It is expected that soon the government will be making an announcement on whether to cull badgers in England as part of a plan to control Bovine TB in cattle.  The government in Wales have announced that they will be postponing a planned badger cull until after they have reviewed the evidence.  The RSPCA have been led to believe that the English government will NOT be following suit.

A cull could mean the eradication of 70% of the badger population and it could involve farmers and landowners being allowed to fund and carry out the cull themselves using a variety of methods including free shooting.  The RSPCA are just one of the organisations to oppose the cull and have fought against various plans put forward by different governments due to the severe welfare implications.  Licensing farmers and/or landowners to free shoot would be impossible to monitor and be inhumane.

In 2010, the RSPCA's Back Off Badgers campagin provoked an overwhelming response which recorded nearly 40,000 objections to the controversial plans for the badger cull in England.  Unfortunately it seems that the government are not paying attention to the views of the general public which has prompted the RSPCA to ask that we go directly to the top and ask the Prime Minister himself to listen.

Ask David Cameron to stop ignoring science and public opinion and Back Off Badgers! 


Click the link, enter a few details and you will be directed to a readily prepared e-mail to David Cameron.  I have changed the subject line and re-worded the e-mail as this way it is more likely that the reader will not just skip through.

Also:


The Humane Society are also asking supporters to contact the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Caroline Spelman.  Click here to do the same as above, enter a few details and hit submit  I have already written to Caroline Spelman and received a response but a reminder won't hurt!


Remember to share on Facebook and Twitter!  Thank you.

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More news on Back Off Badgers!

You may remember my post some time ago on the RSPCA's Back Off Badgers campaign, the RSPCA are now asking urgently for our help in convincing the government that the badger cull is the wrong course of action and in their words "vaccination, increased levels of testing, improved biosecurity and stricter controls on the movement of cattle are more sustainable and effective ways of reducing the incidence of bovine TB in cattle".  The deadline for telling the government that the British public are firmly against the cull by responding to Defra's (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) public consultation is Wednesday 8th December.

How you do this...

This will be quite time consuming so if you don't have time to complete your own full response then you can still help by contacting Defra with your view on the proposed badger cull.  To help make this easier for everyone the RSPCA have created this document, a Consultation Guidance advising how to go about responding to the consultation and including some of their key concerns.  Read this through this document before contacting Defra by post, email or fax (information to follow) with your views but please make sure they are your own words rather than simply echoing RSPCA's statement.

The original Consultation Document

Contact Defra via post here:

TBBC mailbox, 

c/o Nobel House, 

17 Smith Square, 

London SW1P 3JR

or via email tbbc@defra.gsi.gov.ukThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

So far over 16,000 members of the public have registered their opposition to the cull via the RSPCA but we need to do more to encourage the government to listen to us.

More ways to help...

1.  Tell your friends!

2.  Follow the Back Off Badgers campaign on Twitter

3.  Keep checking back on the RSPCA's website for updates

Bad news in Wales

Unfortunately, the government in Wales have re-committed to the badger cull, if you are from Wales have a look here for advice on how to help.