Callous Tories will wipe out badgers
The Tories show no let-up in their desire to quench their blood lust, condemning another 40,000 badgers to death by farmers’ shotguns (Mirror, Sept 14).
The Badger Trust has condemned the expanded cull as the largest destruction of a protected species in living memory.
The Government pledged £700,000 over four years for a badger TB vaccination scheme, but have spent millions on slaughtering them to the verge of extinction across most of rural England. What a disgrace!
A J Smith, March, Cambs
I was appalled to read the Tories are extending the badger cull, possibly leading to the death of 40,000 animals.
It beggars belief that these innocent creatures are on the verge of extinction, yet the slaughter is allowed to go on unabated.
If the Government believes Bovine TB is such a threat to British farmers then why has it not invested in a vaccination programme? It is apparent the preservation of life, whether human or animal, is not a priority for the pennypinching Tories.
Lianne Hall Carlisle, Cumbria
Yet again the Tories will be killing badgers instead of instigating a vaccination programme. This is not only needlessly cruel to badgers and the cubs which are left to starve in the setts, but also to the thousands of cattle that are slaughtered. The announcement of this new cull is just typical of the callous way the Tories treat everyone and everything.
John Hackney, Hyde, Cheshire
I think it is despicable that Defra have plans to slaughter over 40,000 badgers in the coming year.
This will most certainly turn the public against farmers.
The Government should instead consider a vaccination programme, not mass slaughter of one of our most popular species of wildlife.
Christine Walker Romford, Essex
I sit on the fence on this issue of the badger cull and I appreciate the farmers’ concerns.
But the crucial question that springs to mind is just how many of the badgers culled so far have been found to carry the bovine TB virus? This information has been sadly lacking in all the furore regarding the spreading of this disease, and the need to cull more badgers.
R Tandy, Liverpool
It seems this Government will not be satisfied until it has completely eradicated the badger from the countryside. And after another species is wiped out, there will be much handwringing, amid cries that we should have done more to save the British badger from extinction. The Tories should stop this inhumane and expensive cull immediately and instead roll out a vaccination programme.
Kevin Reeves, via email
The Tories say they need to cull 40,000 more badgers, presumably as it is cheaper to shoot these creatures than roll out a vaccination programme. They do not care about our wildlife, our country, or the people in it.
Colin Davies Liverpool