Doubts cast on badger culling
Defra telling ‘bare-faced lies’ – vet
TB in cattle is “spiralling out of control” and could infect humans and pet cats and dogs, a vet has warned.
Dr Iain McGill, director of the Prion Interest Group, accused the government of telling “barefaced lies” about the effectiveness of a badger cull.
The group demanded that the department retracts “in- supportable claims” that its policy for controlling bovine TB is working.
In a statement yesterday, a Defra spokesperson said: “The latest statistics showed reductions in new outbreaks of bovine TB in the initial cull areas, an encouraging sign that the steps we have taken have had a positive impact.”
Defra has been accused of telling “barefaced lies” about the effectiveness of a badger cull.
A vets’ group is demanding that the department retracts “insupportable claims” that its policy for controlling bovine TB (bTB) is working.
And Dr Iain McGill, director of the Prion Interest Group, said the disease was “spiralling out of control”, spreading to domestic cats and dogs and could even infect humans who eat uncooked beef.
Before routine pasteurisation was introduced in the 1950s, thousands of people were infected with TB by drinking contaminated milk.
Dr McGill, a veterinary surgeon, said that claims by Defra that the badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire were working were not supported by scientific evidence.
As reported in the WMN in September, Farming Minister George Eustice announced that new outbreaks had fallen by half in Gloucestershire and Somerset after four years of badger culls.
In a statement yesterday, a Defra spokesperson said: “The latest statistics showed reductions in new outbreaks of bovine TB in the initial cull areas, an encouraging sign that the steps we have taken have had a positive impact.
“Based on this scientific data, Minister Eustice was absolutely correct to describe this progress as encouraging. Measuring new outbreaks is the primary way we analyse the effect of our interventions.”
Dr McGill told the WMNyesterday that the number of new cases in Somerset and Gloucestershire had been falling before the cull.
He said the present TB test was only 50% effective, so a herd which had been declared clear of bTB could still have infected animals. If such a herd subsequently had a positive test, the farmer would naturally blame badgers.
Defra should move to a more sensitive TB test, Dr McGill said, and immediately begin vaccinating cattle.
“The government claims the EU is stopping them vaccinating, but all the EU says is that they have to be able to distinguish vaccinated from infected cattle,” he said. The new tests would be able to differentiate.
Dr McGill said the lack of an effective test meant the disease could be spreading unnoticed to every part of the country.
“If you protect cattle then you will also protect about 20 other species of animal. And you will also protect humans and pet cats and dogs.” Pets which are fed raw meat were vulnerable to contracting bTB – including cats, hunting dogs and zoo animals.
But the government had spent so much money on the badger culls that it was reluctant to admit it had been wrong, Dr McGill said.
“Badger culling has not
worked. They are issuing barefaced lies in this matter.”
Peter Burgess, director of conservation at Devon Wildlife Trust, said that in 2017 the cull killed 20,000 badgers at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of £1,000 an animal.
“Scientific evidence shows that culling is not an effective way of bringing a long-term solution. Instead, a combination of better on-farm biosecurity measures, accurate disease testing, and controls to the movement of cattle form the best short term defences.
“In the long term the development of an effective vaccine for cattle and wildlife is the way forward.
“None of the evidence emerging from the 21 badger cull zones taking place across England has pointed to a different conclusion. For this reason we continue to oppose culling badgers as a measure to tackle bTB and urge the government to change its policy.”
Defra said that findings published in September showed that there had been a drop in TB incidence in the first two cull areas – Gloucestershire and Somerset – where the number of new confirmed breakdowns has dropped by around 50%. The department promised that full analysis of the data would be published later this year.