Badgers

@panda12 wrote:

@(f)politics? wrote:

badger baiting is all to do with the dogs, the strongest, the bravest etc etc, sadly it is something that still goes on, on the quiet, although it is illegal, the culling, i believe will be done with shooters not dogs, so they couldn’t be more different, so i’m not sure how this will encourage baiters, it is still illegal, and is using a completely different weapon, so they won’t be able to hide behind the culling cop out, so i’m not sure i understand that point?

:roll:

That’s adding a lot to the debate :roll:

From everything I’ve read the culling will be strictly controlled and monitored. The approach to culling is quite different to that of baiting and it should be quite obvious where the latter, which will still be a criminal activity, has occurred. There will, of course, be a minority who will use the culling as an excuse to go baiting but these people probably still go baiting anyway. Badgers will not be culled en masse as you suggest, but in controlled numbers.

I don’t like the idea of culling but having read all that I have, it seems that there are a number of options being pursued of which culling of badgers is one, vaccination of badgers is another and research into improved control within herds is another. No single strand of this approach will resolve the issue completely, but hopefully with continued rollout of the vaccination programme there will, over time, be more vaccination and less need for culling. It doesn’t seem to be a case of “let’s just kill as many badgers as we can” at all, in fact the emphasis is very heavily on safe and humane culling.

Brian May …

He reminds me of the Pied Piper of Hamelin by Robert Browning.

@anc wrote:

Being a farmer’s daughter, I have a very strong view on this………..

…………..YES, they should be culled, in this organised way, and vaccinated to stop this horrid disease. Farmer’s shoot them anyhow, even though it is against the law.

It makes me mad when ‘do-gooders’ don’t give their babies the MMR too – another debate, I agree, but along the same lines as the above – obliterate the diseases and no-one can die/be affected by it.

We have the means, so, fgs why not apply them?

. . . . or were you mad to begin with . . . . . :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I hate to think of any creature being needlessly killed but like anc my family has strong farming connections. My daughter married into a sheep farming family and one of my nieces married a rare breeds cattle farmer.

Because of TB some rare breeds of cattle are in danger of becoming extinct and rare breeds that used to roam freely in fields are now reared in large sheds in semi sterile conditions because of the fear of them contracting TB.

Badger numbers had reduced significantly before mans intervention giving them protected status… this has resulted in an increased population and unfortunately in increased TB amongst farm animals.

Of course a vaccine would be the best intervention however there isn’t one available right now that will be effective. The problem is here and now… I think a cull is the only short term solution.. this should be reviewed regularly and if there is a viable alternative I would be in favour of it….. at present there isn’t.

@anc wrote:

@wordsworth60 wrote:

@anc wrote:

Being a farmer’s daughter, I have a very strong view on this………..

…………..YES, they should be culled, in this organised way, and vaccinated to stop this horrid disease. Farmer’s shoot them anyhow, even though it is against the law.

It makes me mad when ‘do-gooders’ don’t give their babies the MMR too – another debate, I agree, but along the same lines as the above – obliterate the diseases and no-one can die/be affected by it.

We have the means, so, fgs why not apply them?

. . . . or were you mad to begin with . . . . . :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I thought we were debating about badgers, not ‘cows’ :lol:

Hey! Just because they don’t give their babies the MMR, doesn’t mean you can call them cows!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol: