The founder of Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre near Burnham-On-Sea says “there is nothing to be pleased about” following the Government’s decision that there will be no new badger culling areas from 2022.
New mass badger cull licences are to be stopped after 2022 under plans to phase out culling of the wild animals.
The environment secretary George Eustice has launched a consultation on the next phase of the government’s strategy to eradicate bovine TB (bTB) in England by 2038. The drive will instead focus on vaccinating badgers and cattle.
But Secret World’s founder, Pauline Kidner, who is a critic of the Government’s policy on badger culling, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “I’m afraid there is nothing to be pleased about with the news that there will be no new badger culling areas in 2022.”
“There will still be four-year licences to run and we are told there may be expansions to the existing cull areas which could mean that the shooting will be allowed in the breeding season.”
“These snippets issued by the government give the impression that it is at last coming to its senses, having already killed over 140,000 badgers so far.”
She adds: “It is incredible that the culling policy, which is inhumane and ineffective still continues at a cost of millions of pounds to the tax payer.”
“I can think of a lot more better ways of spending that money at this difficult time.”
In a statement to the House of Commons, environment secretary George Eustice said more than 27,000 cattle in England were slaughtered causing “devastation and distress for hard-working farmers and rural communities.”
“Badger culling is one of the most contentious and divisive policies within our bTB eradication strategy,” Mr Eustice added.
“The farming community has invested heavily in badger culling, which the evidence shows has played a critical role in helping to start turn the tide on this terrible disease. But we were clear that culling badgers indefinitely is not acceptable.”
“My proposed approach will enable us to complete the objective we set out to achieve when we started the culls. It will also support our stated intention of phasing out culling over the next few years.”
