We <3 Hilary Benn. And so will England’s badgers when they find out that their lives have been spared by the Environment Secretary. It’s a victory for the badgers as the government announced yesterday, they will not be issuing licences to cull badgers in England, and will instead focus on the more effective strategy of preventing bovine TB in cattle, by introducing a vaccination scheme.

Everyone at PETA wants to say a big thank you to Mr Benn, for recognising (and making public) that a ruthless cull of badgers could end up making the problem of TB worse. Not to mention the fact that it’s cruel and inefficient. As we said back in April in a letter to Welsh Rural Affairs Minster Elin Jones, going vegetarian and removing the hideous conditions that factory farmed cows live in is the way forward. However the plan in the West seems to still be going ahead. The Welsh Assembly needs to follow Mr Benn’s compassionate and more effective lead on this one.

Image: Daily Mail / CC

After hearing that a badger cull is to take place in Wales, supposedly to stop the spread of TB in cattle, we fired off a letter written by our chief Ingrid Newkirk to Elin Jones, Rural Affairs Minister. Wildlife culls are a major bug-bear of mine, they are morally and scientifically outrageous, especially when done to solve human problems. This is what Ingrid said:

“Badgers are intelligent animals who live in families of four to 12. These gentle native animals are British icons and are much loved by the public. Badgers dig underground nesting chambers (setts), some of which have been used for more than 100 years by many generations of badgers.

Your plan to kill badgers to supposedly stop the spread of tuberculosis in cattle is a cruel and misguided attempt to place the blame for TB in cattle somewhere other than where it belongs –with the meat and dairy industries. These industries’ own practices – including intensively confining cattle to dark, filthy, poorly ventilated buildings and transporting cattle without testing them for TB – are catalysts for spreading TB and other diseases.

Instead of your intended badger cull, we suggest that you recommend to the people of Wales that they adopt a vegetarian diet. By doing so, they will save the friendly badger by eliminating the excuses that are offered for killing him. Since DEFRA’s recent survey found that 95 per cent of Britons oppose a badger cull, surely this is both the most humane and democratic solution. In addition, our plan is more scientifically sound than a plan to kill a species that is native to region and belongs there, while the cattle don’t.

Since 1975, more than 30,000 badgers have been culled in a futile attempt to stop bovine TB disease, yet it has still been increasing steadily since 1986. After killing all the badgers in four counties in Ireland, rates of bovine TB are still twice as high there as they are in Britain. Basically, science shows that slaughtering badgers doesn’t control tuberculosis but actually causes it to spread in a “ripple effect” – infected badgers disperse and carry the infection to a larger range.”

Image: Daily Mail / Creative Commons