It has been announced by Team Badger that the badger cull e-petition, which has been signed and promoted by Dorset Wildlife Trust and other organisations, has broken the record for the largest numbers of signatories ever to sign a H.M Government e-petition.
Team Badger is a coalition of organisations that have teamed up to fight the planned cull of badgers, with Queen Guitarist Brian May, fronting their campaign.
An impressive total of 263,000 people have signed the e-petition to pledge their support against the badger cull policy the Government have put forward to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) into cattle. Individuals who support alternative methods instead of culling badgers include academics, public figures, naturalists, celebrities and many thousands of the general public.
Dorset Wildlife Trust have been inviting members of the public who want their voices to be heard about the badger cull to sign the e-petition, and we are delighted that our proactive approach has undoubtedly contributed to the overwhelming amount of signatures collected.
Chief Executive for Dorset Wildlife Trust, Simon Cripps said:
“Dorset Wildlife Trust has been outspoken in our opposition to badger culling in Dorset, and we will not allow badger culling on our land. We are sympathetic to farmers who have to deal with the devastating effects this disease has on cattle, and we continue to support alternative methods such as cattle vaccination, better bio security and badger vaccination. There is clearly a huge amount of public opinion against badger culling and we hope this petition will encourage the Government and the Dorset NFU to re-evaluate their culling policies to reflect the overwhelmingscientific evidence that culling badgers is not an effective means of control.”
Defra’s estimates have found that a badger cull is likely to see at best a 16% net reduction of bTB in cattle, which leaves 84% of the problem not dealt with. There is also scientific evidence to suggest that the cull may spread the disease further, as it will increase movement and contact between infected cattle and badgers. It is for these reasons that Dorset Wildlife Trust believes that vaccination of cattle in the long term, and vaccination of badgers in the short term are a more effective means of controlling bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle. Dorset Wildlife Trust is planning to start a badger vaccination programme later this year.
