Animal Lovers: Do Not Watch 'Countryfile'!

[Kerosene]

They're on about the impending badger cull and are to interview some of the ************ who will be shooting those adorable creatures - hell mend their trigger fingers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[quizzywig]

Too late.

[rsvp]

unfortunately the shooting of these animals is going ahead - this can't be changed now but at least those involved in the cull appear to have been well trained - of course what actually happens out there is another matter.

[dotty.]

I doubt anyone outside of the actual people chrged with the culling will have anything to worry about, whereas, farmers being left to cull an entire milk herd have everythig to worry about, if medication has not sorted this out what choice is there? herd all the badgers together and have a badger sanctuary?

[ladybirder]

Just watched it.. The local badger wildlife rescue place is expecting their intake to rise. Seems to me this 3 months' cull is just target practice to see if those trained up to carry out the cull can aim straight.

[ladybirder]

Immunisation dotty.

[Kerosene]

"...what choice is there?"

dotty,
Without going into great detail, here's a thread on the subject I had on 'Animals & Nature' last week:

http://www.theanswerb.../Question1169663.html

[dotty.]

and that hasn't worked
http://www.bovinetb.info/vaccination.php

[dotty.]

at this cost
http://www.bovinetb.info/index.php

[factor-fiction]

I believe we wouldn't be able to start immunising cattle for several years so in the meantime this is the selected option. It would be nice though if instead of shooting the badgers dead we could fire an immunisation dart

[ladybirder]

I wasn't suggesting immunising the cattle, I meant the badgers.
There were some very good links in the other kerosene thread about it to which he has posted a link on here for dotty. I particularly took note of the link kiki posted.
Anyway, they're vaccinating the badgers in The Archers so it must be right:-)

[Kerosene]

ladybirder,

A great shame that 'The Archers' ain't for real? Wish it was.

[chaptazbru]

Poor bloody badgers, imagine the panic.

[factor-fiction]

The poor cows don't do too well either, regardless of whether they get TB or not.

[Kiki-frog]

I watched Countryfile and thought it was fairly objective, much as I loathe the idea of a cull. It was upsetting, though.

But it has left me convinced that, aside from any humane or ethical considerations, it's just bloody stupid to organise this cull by having a marksman shoot the badgers. Suppose he shoots and kills one badger - are the other badgers in the group going to hang around and wait to be shot too? No, they'll disappear underground straight away. They might come out after an hour or so, but if the same thing happens again, sooner or later they'll remain in hiding or exit from the sett via another route. And an old sett can have as many as 100 exits.

And of course, that's assuming that our marksman will kill a badger with his first shot. What if a wounded animal gets back to its sett? It will die a slow and painful death. And again, there is no way that the other badgers in the group will go anywhere near the tunnel that the dying badger came in through.

There's no way that this cull is going to prove effective. Defra has no way of knowing where all the badger setts are anyway, and the local badger protection groups sure as hell aren't going to say anything.

It's just a sop to pacify the farmers' union. Defra should have worked on a tb vaccine for cattle a long time ago, and they know it. If badgers do pass tb to cattle (and that's still unproven - it could just as easily be any other mammal), the only way to stop it is to make sure that badgers stay healthy.

I live in Gloucestershire, where the trial cull is to take place, and feel deeply ashamed that this is happening on my doorstep.

[Kiki-frog]

Oo-er, I didn't realise that rant was quite as long as it is. Sorry, Kerosene, for hijacking your thread!

[chaptazbru]

Kiki - excellent post. Many of the poor creatures are going to be injured and die a slow and painful death - horrific ....

[Kerosene]

Kiki,

Please don't apologise for obviously caring passionately about the impending pointless, needless, and barbaric slaughter of those helpless creatures. Livid is an inadequate word to describe how I feel about it.