Labour using badger cull as 'political football', says NFU

The Labour Party has made ending the pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire one of its six key pledges on animal welfare.

"A Labour government will tackle the scourge of Bovine TB, but not by using a policy dubbed “an epic failure" by the Chief Scientific Advisor of Natural England," said Shadow DEFRA Minister Maria Eagle.

Animal protection organisation Humane Society International welcomed the pledge, saying the cull was an 'unmitigated disaster from the start'.

"We are delighted that Labour has pledged an end to this cruel and pointless badger slaughter if it wins the May election. The cull has been an unmitigated disaster from the start, and lacks any scientific credibility whatsoever.

"The activities in Somerset and Gloucestershire clearly risk making the situation for farmers worse not better, and are responsible for continued horrendous badger suffering.

"Despite overwhelming expert opinion and evidence that culling badgers can make no meaningful contribution to controlling cattle TB in Britain, the Government doggedly continues to pursue a flawed, expensive and unethical badger cull."

'Action needs to be taken'

Meurig Raymond, NFU President, said Labour's pledge to protect animals must also protect the 'tens of thousands of cattle' that are slaughtered every year in England because of bTB.

“We do not consider it good animal welfare to allow a disease that is devastating farming family businesses, and for which there is no cure, to be left to spread unchecked in wildlife and create more misery.

“To stop the culls halfway through goes against the evidence from previous research which showed that culling over four years had a positive impact on reducing bTB in cattle.

"The culls were designed to run for four years and anecdotal evidence from both cull areas suggests they are already helping to reduce bTB incidence in cattle and farms are starting to go clear of the disease. Stopping the culls early could risk making the bTB situation in these areas worse. The culls must be allowed to run for their full four years so the maximum disease control benefits can be achieved.

“We have repeatedly said that the fight against bTB is too important to be allowed to become a political football. Eradicating this disease has to be put beyond party political point scoring and populist policies designed to win votes. It is simply too serious an issue. Whoever is in government will be required to deal with bTB and will need to have a robust, credible eradication strategy to do so,” Mr Raymond said.

“We urge Labour to support the TB eradication strategy published by the Government last April which is the first comprehensive plan to control and eradicate this disease in England. It aims to tackle bTB using every option we have – cattle controls, vaccination of badgers around the endemic areas to stop it spreading further, and culling badgers in areas where the disease is rife.

“Only by doing everything we can to tackle this disease will we stand a chance of wiping it out and achieving what everybody wants – a TB free England where we have healthy cattle, healthy badgers and a healthy countryside.”

'Epic failure'

But the Chair of Natural England's Scientific Advisory Committee described the culls as an “epic failure”, and the vast majority of independent scientists agree that a cull can make no meaningful contribution to controlling TB in cattle.

"By contrast, badger vaccination using the injectable BCG vaccine is a viable alternative, and DEFRA is promoting public funding for vaccination projects in the 'edge' area bordering the region worst affected by bovine TB in England," the organisation said.

"However, HSI UK warns that unless the scheme is available in ‘high risk’ bTB areas, and until DEFRA and the NFU actively counter their own anti-vaccination rhetoric, the scheme will have limited impact."

In light of the advice provided by the Independent Expert Panel regarding the significant difficulties in achieving accurate estimates of badger populations, Natural England will keep the minimum number under review and will, if appropriate, provide further advice on the level of culling effort and badger removal required to achieve an effective cull.

Vets from AHVLA will carry out post-mortem examinations on at least 60 randomly-selected badgers from each cull area to assess accuracy of controlled shooting. These measures have been put in place to implement the recommendations made by the Independent Experts Panel following last year’s pilots.

"Overseas experience shows a comprehensive strategy that also includes cattle movement controls and continuing to cull badgers in areas where the disease is rife is likely to be most effective in moving to eradicate TB in England," a Defra spokesman said.

"Ministers have downplayed the value of badger vaccination in recent years, in an attempt to boost support for a cull, and that negative messaging risks undermining the scheme even before it has begun," said Mark Jones, veterinarian and executive director of HSI UK.

"If DEFRA now wants to get buy-in from those same farmers for vaccination of badgers on their land, it needs to seriously change its rhetoric.

“But more than that, it needs to promote badger vaccination in the high-risk areas where it will actually make the greatest difference. Refusing to support vaccination in precisely those areas where bovine TB is most problematic is nonsensical. So farmers in these areas deserve a vaccination scheme or they’re being left high and dry.

"We know that indiscriminate culling of badgers won’t be effective. Last year’s cull was a waste of time, money and badgers’ lives that DEFRA seems sadly determined to repeat this year. Unlike the cull, science tells us that vaccinating even a modest proportion of badgers undoubtedly reduces the potential for TB to spread within badger populations and therefore back to cattle."

“Bovine TB is a problem created by the farming industry,” said Jones.

“So it’s time for farmers to take ownership of effective and humane solutions to their problem, instead of indiscriminately shooting badgers and by doing so potentially making the problem worse. Improving farm biosecurity and restricting cattle movements are crucial, but badger vaccination is also a very useful tool, so we encourage landowners and farmers to get proactively involved and push DEFRA to expand its funding to include high risk areas. All stakeholders – farmers, the tax payer and wildlife groups – have much to gain from a badger vaccination initiative, but it needs to be done intelligently otherwise all those same stakeholders will lose out.”

“It is essential that Defra gets this right to allow the veterinary profession to have confidence that controlled shooting can be carried out humanely and effectively," BVA President Robin Hargreaves said.

"We continue to call upon the Secretary of State to put in place independent analysis of the second year of culling to give confidence to the wider public.

“Badger culling is a necessary part of a comprehensive bovine TB eradication strategy that also includes strict cattle measures and vaccination. Culling remains a hugely emotive issue but we must tackle the disease in both cattle and wildlife. Scientific evidence supports the use of targeted, humane badger culling to achieve a reduction in the disease in cattle.

“I’m proud that the veterinary profession has had such a significant influence on Defra’s position and we will continue to engage with the government to ensure the pilot culls are humane and effective.”

Incidents of Bovine TB in cattle fell in April to their lowest levels in almost ten years, according to the latest statistics from Defra.

The number of new herd incidents during the period January to April 2014 was 1,767 compared to 1,809 for January to April 2013. The number of tests on officially TB free herds was 31,287 during January to April 2014, compared to 29,526 during January to April 2013.