Stop the badger cull

Latest news

Yeo Valley announces it will not support the cull!

We’re delighted that Yeo Valley have publicly stated that they will not allow badger culling on any of their organic farms. The RSPCA believes strongly that consumers should have the right to choose if that wish to abstain from buying products, the ingredients of which are sourced from farms taking part in the cull. We hope that more compassionate companies follow suit.

Government announce the cull will go ahead this summer

Despite the overwhelming scientific, public and political opinion against the widespread cull of badgers, the government have announced that the cull will take place this summer in Somerset and Gloucestershire. Dorset has also been announced as a ‘reserve’.

Now is the time for action - please sign the petition and if you've already done it, get 10 friends to sign. Lets make this the biggest Number 10 petition ever to make sure it can’t be ignored!

• Sign the Number 10 petiton

Background

Following years of contentious debate, the Westminster government confirmed that it will go ahead with a pilot badger cull in two areas of England in 2012. The locations of the pilot culls have been announced and culls are planned for the districts of West Somerset/Taunton Deane and in the Forest of Dean/Tewkesbury area.

The announcement comes despite scientific studies which have shown that culling would be of little help in reducing the disease, and could actually make things worse in some areas.

The proposals are part of a package of measures aimed at controlling bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle. The RSPCA believes that vaccination, increased levels of testing and improved biosecurity are more effective ways of dealing with the problem in the long term and eradicating bovine TB in cattle for good.
 

Key facts

• The cull could see badger populations decline by more than 70 per cent and in some areas none may survive.
   
• Culling cannot be selective so many perfectly healthy badgers will be slaughtered as ‘collateral damage’.
   
• Over 200,000 recorded objections to a badger cull in England.
   
• After 10 years work the Independent Scientific Group concluded in 2007 that ‘badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain.’
   
• Subsequent monitoring of cull areas indicated a very modest drop in cattle TB levels averaging just 16 per cent after nine and half years!
   
• Defra‘s own wildlife advisory body, Natural England, who have to implement the government proposals, have said that they have little confidence in them delivering the predicted benefits.

Next steps

Last year, thanks to your support, badgers were given temporary reprieve as the proposed cull of badgers received widespread condemnation from the public, politicians and scientists alike.

Now, with the culls due to begin in under 3 months, it’s now or never for the badgers. We want to deliver 250,000 voices against the badger cull via the Number 10 petition to ensure that the Government can’t ignore us any longer.
 

Here’s what you can do:
Step 1: Sign the Number 10 petition. 
Step 2: Badger your friends and family to sign too!
Step 3: Urge your MP to stand up to Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson urging him to listen to scientific, public and political opinion and shelve this reckless policy in favour of a more sustainable approach!

Please click the badger to take action! 
 

We need to demonstrate that we will not sit by and allow this war on our wildlife to go ahead unchallenged.