To cull or not to cull?

To cull or not to cull?

Badgers are one of the UK’s iconic animals and they are also currently a big Political news story.  With the start of a limited Badger cull the creature has been all over the news, supporters of the controversial cull say it stops Badgers spreading bovine TB to herds of cattle.  Protesters against the cull claim it is an inhumane to solve the problem and it will not work.  The cull is currently limited to 300sqkm of Gloucestershire and 250sqkm of Somerset, the cull will last for 6 weeks and marksmen aim to kill up to 5000 Badgers.

Numerous groups are against the cull such as the Stop The Cull Campaign and The RSPCA, there are also high profile opponents of the cull such as Brian May, the Labour party are also against the cull. But if the cull will stop the spread of Bovine TB then why is their opposition to the cull?  Well that is simple there is evidence to say culls do not work, and actually pilot culls like the Badger cull are to limited to have any real measurable effect.  So protesters believe that the cull is pointless killing of badgers.

Supporters of the cull believe the cull will reduce the spread of Bovine TB from Badgers to Cattle, Bovine TB can have a devastating effect of herds of cattle.  In addition, it can lead to farmers having to cull whole herds of cattle, which not only affects the pocket of the farmer but also if TB in cattle continues to get worse then it could affect the price of beef.  Also as with most debates there is also science to back up the idea that a cull would reduce the spread of Bovine TB, Ian Boyd, chief scientist at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has used the example of successful culling programmes in Australia and New Zealand.  The government also predicts that in the areas where the cull will take place there could be as much as a 16% drop in cases of Bovine TB.

Protesters are not just protesting and offering no alternative they have suggested vaccinating cattle against TB or vaccinating Badgers.  On both fronts there have been developments which suggest an vaccination program could be successful.  However, there are big roadblocks in the way of any potential vaccination program in either Cattle or Badger.  The vaccine for Badgers only is beneficial to uninfected Badgers as it is not a cure only a preventative measure, there is also the rather tricky prospect of catching the badgers to vaccinate them, you would also have to vaccinate new cubs so it would have to be a rolling vaccination program.  A vaccine for badgers is also predicted to take much longer than a cull to see a reduction in cases of Bovine TB in cattle.  It would be much easier to vaccinate Cattle  however due to EU laws if meat from vaccinated cattle can’t be sold so this would not help farmers.  To conclude I am personally in favour of the cull as I see it as the best way to help farmers and control Bovine TB, saying this I can also see why someone would be against the cull, and despite the cull going ahead I can see this issue rumbling on for a long while particularly if the pilot cull is rolled out to the rest of the UK.