What's A Few Badgers Between Friends?

[AB Editor]

So, they're rolling out a badger cull trial in Gloucester...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23845851

... And there will be protests, naturally. Will you be joining them? Or do you think the cull trial is worthwhile?

[shoota]

The Food Standards Agency confirm meat is safe; 'Where a carcass shows evidence of localised TB, the lesions are cut out and the rest of the carcass is passed as fit for human consumption.' In fact the carcasses are even sold back into the food chain by DEFRA in an attempt to recover some of their costs.

An FSA spokesman said 'there had not been a single documented case of someone developing human TB after eating infected meat'.

Same source as above.

[maggiebee]

Can think of a few "carriers" of the human kind. Maybe should get out my gun and blast them too.

[Khandro]

(1) Hedgehogs have TB, are you proposing shooting them?
(2) Shooting in the dark in the woods by so called 'marksmen' (simply another word for gun-owners) the majority will be wounded and not killed and die very badly underground.
(3) All badgers were eliminated on the Isle of Man, and the TB problem is not only no better, it is now worse.

[shoota]

1) I'm not proposing anything, I simply support the proposals of others. Hedgehogs are a quarry species of badgers and do not enjoy the same level of protection under law so they do not need special licences as badgers do - as far as I am aware.
2) The marksmen are only authorised after having successfully completed a training course and the shooting of badgers is not extended to all gun-owners.
3) Badgers are not the only carriers of TB as you yourself point out. As well as hedgehogs, deer and cats can also be carriers. The difference being they are not protected.

[Khandro]

^ //having successfully completed a training course// does not make a marksman; all soldiers undergo a rifle training course and are then simply 'trained', marksmen are born, not unlike championship golfers.

[shoota]

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/controlled-shooting-of-badgers-in-the-field-under-licence-to-prevent-the-spread-of-bovine-tb-in-cattle

[shoota]

Shooting isn't the only option that is being licensed, trapping is an alternative.

[shoota]

Requirements and constraints
4.
Those shooting badgers under licence must be competent in the use and safe handling of firearms. The minimum standard of rifle marksmanship required is equivalent to that for the Deer Stalking Certificate Level 1 qualification. The use of shotguns is restricted because of their limited power and range (see ‘Weapons and Ammunition’ below). Anyone actually shooting badgers under licence (as opposed to just assisting e.g. by holding a spotlight) will be required to demonstrate an appropriate level of marksmanship, through appropriate training and must have received Defra approved training on the humane shooting of badgers.
Weapons and Ammunition
5.
Badgers must only be shot within the terms of an appropriate licence using firearms and ammunition that comply with the ‘92 Act.
The firearms/ammunition permitted under licence are limited to the following:
•
Rifles: a minimum of .22 centre-fire calibre, with minimum bullet weight of 50 grains and minimum muzzle energy of 1000 footpounds.
•
Shotguns: 12 bore only, with full, three quarter or half choke, using a cartridge loaded with AAA shot or BB shot.

That is from here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/200909/pb13922-shooting-guidance-20130517.pdf

[Khandro]

^ //as opposed to just assisting e.g. by holding a spotlight)// This really shows how specious this whole nonsense is. Can anyone believe a man and an assistant can enter the badger's environment in the dark, in a wood, and the assistant, -given the sensitivity to sound and smell of the badger- can shine a light on a badger, which will obligingly stand there while the 'marksmen' shoots it dead with a clean shot to the head?
All night filming of badgers is done from long distance by remote-controlled cameras and similarly the 'marksman' will have to be some considerable distance away and the probability is that most will be wounded and die over a time from their wounds. The whole thing is a disgrace and I fail to see how you can condone it.

[shoota]

Had you read the links khandro you would know that the modus operandi is to bait 'safe' areas and shoot the badgers in the heart/lung area as they are in the open.
So far you have argued on false assumptions.

[Khandro]

:-)

[emmie]

i have read through this, including some of the links, i still think that this is wrong, both sides have a point, one chap on the tv news who is against culling the badgers said it will cost twice as much to employ people to capture, shoot the animals, than it would to vaccinate them, or as suggested vaccinate the cattle. And if you have to kill the quota so if a large percentage are free of the TB then you will have slaughtered them for no reason, than a maybe. I remember seeing photo's of the rabbits that had myxamatosis, and that was vile, man again...

[shoota]

Emmie the links also state that the vaccine:
- is only 60% effective,
- has to be repeated annually until the area is clear of TB
- doesn't 'cure' the ones that already have TB who will then infect the 40% that the vaccine hasn't worked on who are then free to infect more cattle.
Effectively rendering it useless and a waste of money.

[jobjockey]

I certainly wont be joining any protest, people have read too many beatrix potter books, they allegedly cause TB in cattle, get rid of them and see what happens, the same people imagine foxes to be Basil Brush.

[Khandro]

@ jobjockey; I have never read her books, and as for your unbelievable contribution; "get rid of them and see what happens", I will tell you; nothing. Apart from the fact that no one is advocating the extermination of the entire species as you seem to wish. The virus lives in the soil and will do so for at least a decade. While you are at it why not advocate the extermination of all other animal carriers, including hedgehogs?

[PussRusty]

Speaking purely personally, I am for anything that reduces T.B. in cattle. I have been deaf all of my life because I caught T.B. from infected milk when I was small. Jury's still out on the badger cull though.

[shinymanone]

when inoculation is available, this is just a money saving exercise, the MP,S of the region, should never hold public office again.OH! hang on, its a rural area right?inhabited by landowners and farmers, they will DEFINITELY get voted in again.cash one.scruples nil!

[shoota]

Sigh:
the links also state that the vaccine:
- is only 60% effective,
- has to be repeated annually until the area is clear of TB
- doesn't 'cure' the ones that already have TB who will then infect the 40% that the vaccine hasn't worked on who are then free to infect more cattle.
Effectively rendering it useless and a waste of money.