UK Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has announced that pilot badger culls in the western counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire, which will see the killing of 70 percent of the badgers in each area, will go ahead this summer and that a third one, in the county of Dorset, will be prepared as a reserve.
Farmers will be allowed to shoot up to 5,094 badgers in West Gloucestershire and West Somerset over a four-year period as a result of this cull.
The government believes that culling badgers, which can transmit TB to cattle, could reduce the levels of the disease in herds, but expert scientists disagree, and most of the British public is against the idea.
Dear Prime Minister,
As you know, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has announced that the badger culls that were halted last year, will go ahead this summer. This means that farmers will be allowed to shoot up to 5,094 badgers in West Gloucestershire and West Somerset over a four-year period as a result of this cull.
The government believes that culling badgers, which can transmit TB to cattle, could reduce the levels of the disease in herds, but expert scientists disagree, and most of the British public is against the idea.
This is a tragedy for Britain's wildlife. It's not going to get rid of bovine TB, but it will decimate badger populations over parts of England, cause much suffering to these adorable animals, and could lead to their disappearance in some areas.
Please do not pursue badger culls in the UK.
Thank you for your time and attention.
