CLA condemns Defra’s decision on badger cull

The CLA have condemned the Government's official announcement that a proposed badger cull across England to prevent the spread of Bovine TB will not go ahead.

The decision was made by Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs following significant procrastination.

CLA President Henry Aubrey-Fletcher said: "This is depressing news for farmers and landowners with cattle, especially as is not supported by the recommendations of the Efra Select Committee, the Government's former chief scientific adviser Sir David King, and the evidence base from the ISG report which showed that wildlife controls would be effective if implemented over a large area with appropriate boundaries.

"The CLA condemns this announcement and will now be looking to the Government to offer some additional support to those farmers affected, particularly in hotspot areas."

Mr Benn said that the evidence presented to him on the effectiveness of badger culling did not satisfy him as a measure to prevent the spread of Bovine TB, but will invest £20million over the next three years in vaccination and set up a joint industry body to take decisions on other controls together.

The CLA President said: "We know the current attempt at prevention based simply on cattle controls – is simply not working. A combination of wildlife and cattle controls did reduce the incidence of bovine TB during the 1950s and 1980s massively reducing the scale of TB in the UK.

"Without a combined package of cattle and wildlife controls, we will not see a reduction in incidence and the human and animal cost of this disease will only continue to rise. It will cost the lives of an increasing number of both cattle and badgers, and, in the case of the badgers, their death from TB is a slow and painful one."