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NEWS
February
 Sunday, 7th, Save The Badger are meeting at Miskin Manor Hotel, nr. Llantrisant (just off
the M4, between Cardiff and Bridgend), at 10am. Representatives
from regional badger groups, wildlife organisations, and a number
of individuals opposing the cull have indicated they will be attending.
If you would also like to come to the meeting, please contact
us by clicking the link at the side of this page and we will reserve
you a place.
Monday, 8th, we are pleased to say that the first meeting organised by Save The Badger was a tremendous success, so thanks to all of you who came to
the meeting. Among those who attended were representatives from
South & West Wales Wildlife Trust, Badger Trust Cymru, Pembrokeshire
Against the Cull, Viva, a number of badger groups (some from as
far away as Machynlleth), and we are also pleased to say many
members of the public who'd never previously been involved in
the campaign – our message is getting heard! We have also received
countless messages of support from individuals and organisations
throughout the UK. This campaign is growing and growing, day by
day! The number of people pledging support is already huge, and
for us at Save The Badger it is heart warming to know so many of you are ready to become
actively involved in the fight to save the badger.
The meeting was covered by both the ITV and BBC Wales main news.
The BBC news feature broadcast at 17.50 had an interview with
John Evans, and this was later repeated at 22.15.
(Photo BBC News)
There is also an item about the Save The Badger meeting, "New group fights badger cull in west Wales" on the BBC news website. Please click on the image above to read
the feature for yourself.
Tuesday, 9th, everyone involved at Save The Badger, and the vast amounts of people who oppose the Welsh Assembly
Government's plan to cull badgers, are delighted that leading
Welsh newspaper, The South Wales Argus has added their support
to our campaign to fight this decision. Our thanks to the newspaper
for joining the large number of scientists, environmentalists,
and specialists in this field, who have considered all the evidence and realised that culling badgers to appease the
farmers lobby is not the solution to bovine TB in cattle. We care about our country,
Wales, we care about it's image, it's heritage, it's wildlife
and all it's people – not just a vociferous minority. We need more good
progressive journalism like this, or the danger is that WAG will
make our nation become synonymous with medieval thinking and solutions
to problems. Please click on the newspapers logo below to read
the Editorial Comment for yourselves.
Wednesday, 10th, the results a major new scientific research study by Imperial
College London into the effectiveness of badger culling in controlling
bovine TB was published today. The study had this to say about
culling badgers: "beneficial effects are not sustained, disappearing
four years post-cull.", and "this is not a cost-effective contribution
to preventing bTB infections in cattle” ! John Evans, spokesman
for Save The Badger, said: “The results of this new scientific study completely shatters
the argument put forward by Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones
when making her decision to cull badgers. It also backs up the
findings of previous research. An overwhelming majority of scientific
evidence states that culling of badgers as a means to deal with
bTB is unscientific, uneconomic and importantly, it simply doesn't
work. We are asking Elin Jones to halt her plans to kill badgers
immediately. We are also urging her listen to all the scientific
evidence and completely reconsider her position on this issue."
This report is of huge importance and significance! To download
a copy and read it yoursellf, please click here.
Thursday, 11th, yesterday's publication of the Imperial College report caught
the attention of the media with both ITV and BBC carrying the
story on their main news programmes. John was interviewed in Cardiff
by BBC, with Christianne Glossop being sent out by WAG to give
what we thought was a rather confusing response. In the light
of the new scientific evidence, John publicly called on Elin Jones
to "halt her plans to kill badgers immediately". Later, Save The Badger member, Ruth Evans, took on the NFU and Glossop in the Welsh language
main news on S4C. Well done to them both. We've again had a great
reaction from the public, with many messages of support. Our campiaign
is gaining momentum. The more that people have come to understand
what WAG actually intend doing to badgers, and to realise a massive
amount of sceientific evidence states that their plans won't work
anyway, the more horrifed and angry they are. Our thanks to you
all for your support.
Monday, 15th, arrangements are currently underway for a protest rally in March
outside the Welsh Assembly building in Cardiff. Much thought and
consultation with other organisations opposed to WAG's decision
to kill badgers has gone into the planning – this will be no
ordinary protest! An email with full details should have already
gone out to everyone on our mailing list. if you haven't received
a copy yet, and are interested in supporting our campaign, please
contact us.
Friday, 15th, as some of you may already now from our email updates, Susan
Hetherington hand delivered a letter from Save The Badger to the European Parliament in Brussels recently. The letter was
a direct appeal for the European Parliament to intervene and request
that the Assembly Government reconsider it's position in relation
to it's planned slaughter of badgers in Wales. We are all very
grateful to Susan for taking the time to do this. Only by us all
working together like this can we hope to make the necessary impact
to prevent WAG going ahead with their plans. Please click on the
photo below to see Susan with our letter at the European Parliament.
Tuesday, 24th, everyone here is hard at work organising the Save The Badger rally outside the Welsh Assembly Government Senedd building in
Cardiff on 8th March. All those on our email list should have
already received an update together with a copy of the Rally poster
to distribute, or print out and display wherever you can. We need
to let more people know! This is a chance to show just how many
of us there are who are totally against the WAG decision to make
badgers a scapegoat for Bovine TB. In the past, WAG apparently
have dismissed opposition as coming from just small numbers. So,
please come and join us – and bring your friends, family, or anyone
you know who is opposed the "cull" of badgers. United together,
we can make a difference! To download your own copy of our poster,
please click on the image below.
Wednesday, 25th, Save The Badger spokesman John Evans' opinion column on the WAG's decision to
slaughter badgers was published in the Trinity Mirror group South
Wales Valleys newspapers. Please click on the image below to read
the column yourself.
March
Monday, 1st March, John was asked for his views on WAG's badger policy for the St
David's Day edition of Big Issue Cymru. Please click on the image
below to read the piece yourself.
Wednesday, 3rd March, the Badger Trust's excellent magazine for members, Badger News
had a feature which looked at the background and various facts
surrounding WAG's proposed badger "cull". The article also contained
extracts from John's essay published on this site, The Killing Fields of Wales. Please click on the pages below to read the feature.
 
Monday, 8th, March, 2010, Save The Badger 's first public rally took place outside the Welsh Assembly Government
Senedd building in Cardiff. Around 300 attended the event. Among
those there on the day were representatives from South & West
Wales Wildlife Trust, Badger Trust Cymru, Pembrokeshire Against
the Cull, Secret World, Wales Against Animal Cruelty, Viva, Action
For Animals, badger groups from Wales and England, and many members
of the public. The event was covered by BBC and ITV news, the
Western Mail, and South Wales Echo. At the event, a message of
support from Brian May was read out – his message can now be found
below in the About This Site section of this and all of our pages. As we had planned, after
the speeches, everyone formed a large semi-circle facing the Senedd
building and we all stood in silence with our fingers in our ears
to symbolise the fact that WAG are refusing to listen to the large
amount of scientists, conservationists, and Welsh public, all
opposed to their plan to slaughter thousands of badgers. Everyone
at Save The Badger is very grateful to Brian and all of you who came to also show
your opposition to WAG's policy. For some of the media reaction
to the event please click on the images below. There are more
details and links to two online galleries of photograhps from
the rally on our Events page.
(Photo BBC News)
Monday and Tuesday, 22nd and 23rd March, the High Court in Swansea heard arguments in an important challenge
to the Welsh Assembly Ministers’ decision to press ahead with
a mass badger cull in May 2010. The judicial review, being brought
by the Badger Trust, asked the Court to quash the TB Eradication
(Wales) Order 2009, which purports to authorise the cull on the
grounds it will mitigate the spread of TB. Gwendolen Morgan of
Bindmans LLP who represents the Trust, said: "There are perfectly
viable options available, including vaccination (to take place
alongside cattle control measures), which have not been lawfully
evaluated by the Minister' in reaching their decision and which
have been impermissibly rejected. Brian May and representatives
from Save The Badger joined the Badger Trust at the hearing. As I'm sure you are aware
by now, Brian's presence in court attracted a considerable amount
of media attention throughout the UK. He hit out at the planned
badger cull during the lunch-time break and told journalists the
decision was based on bad science. He added: “This would be genocide.
To me countries do not matter. Badgers are not British they belong
to the world and they belong to everyone”. We know there are very
many people here in Wales who wholeheartedly agree with Brian
and appreciate the fact that he is supporting the Welsh public
fighting to stop politicians going ahead with this unscientific
and barbaric plan. I'm sure we all dearly hope that reason will
prevail and the Judge will examine the overwhelming amount of
scientific evidence, and agree with us that the "cull" should
not go ahead.
 
(Brian May outside court, and later with Nicola Dodd, John Evans,
Susan Morris, from Save The Badger, and Pat Hayden, Badger Trust)
Saturday, 27th, Save The Badger and Badger Trust member, Pat Underwood, has opened a petition
on the Welsh Assembly Government's website. Pat had previously
handed in a petition with a large number of signatories to WAG
but was told by the Clerk of the Petitions Committee that the
"wording was wrong". She has now been advised by her AM, Christine
Chapman, who is also Chair of the Petitions Committee, and her
newly worded petition has now been accepted and can be found on
the WAG website. The petition, Review the badger cull pilot scheme in North Pembrokeshire can be found here.
April
Thursday, 8th, Save The Badger, Brian May, and other opponents of WAG's plan to slaughter thousands
of badgers in Wales, appeared in ITV Wales' documentary programme, Wales This Week, which was broadcast at 7.30pm. The documentary featured interviews
with Brian May; John Evans; Pembrokeshire farmer, Celia Thomas,
Secret World organiser, Pauline Kidner; as well as farmers and farmers leaders.
Everyone at Save The Badger felt that the majority of people, from both sides of the agreement,
featured in this excellent documentary all wanted a long term
solution to the problem of tackling TB in cattle and by the end
of the programme even some farmers seemed somewhat unsure a badger
"cull" was the best solution. The one exception, perhaps, was
the WAG Chief Vet who seemed intent on building on the infamy
gained when, despite other options being available, she insisted
on killing Shambo, the Holy Cow, and was now determined to kill
thousands of badgers in Wales no matter what the evidence.
(Save The Badger offices – John Evans with ITV Wales' Wales This Week
Thursday, 16th, members of Save The Badger, were at the Civil Justice Centre, Cardiff to hear the result
of the Badger Trust's application for a Judicial Review of WAG's
decision to "cull" badgers. The legal challenge was unsuccessful
and the judge decided that in regard to the legality of WAG's
policy they were not acting unlawfully. It is important to remember,
this was not a judgement of the scientific evidence and whether
culling badgers was the most effective method of combating bovine
TB. It was also not a judgement of the ethical implications or
animal welfare issues surrounding the badger "cull". As we know
the results of the majority of scientific research and evidence
show that slaughtering badgers is not a justifiable way of dealing
with the problem, and it is also cruel and barbaric. The court
proceedings and it's impact were covered by ITV Wales and BBC
Wales News. To read what Save The Badger said to the media in Cardiff about the judge's decision, please
click on the image below.
May
Saturday, 1st, a new Save The Badger A5 leaflet and A4 poster is now available.
40,000 leaflets have been printed and a larger number of posters.
Most organisations in Wales will be distributing them, but there
are still numbers available, so please contact us if you are also
able to help distribute them. A number of people have been instrumental
in helping make this happen, so our thanks to all who have been
involved in this project, and our particular gratitude to Pauline
Kidner of Secret World, and Pat and Jeff Hayden of the Badger
Trust for all your tireless efforts to save Welsh badgers. Please
click on the images below to download and print a .pdf file of
the leaflet and poster.
 
(Save The Badger A5 flyer, left, A4 poster, right)
Tuesday, 4th, the Badger Trust have notified the Welsh Assembly Government that
they are to appeal against the Judge's decision not to allow a
Judicial Review of the badger "cull". Save The Badger, support Badger Trust in their decision to appeal and we dearly
hope that this new legal challenge will be successful. Surely,
a 6% reduction in bovine TB (or anything else) cannot reasonably
be described as "substantial"!? This legal challenge no doubt
will be expensive, but every avenue should be tried and exhausted
in the fight to save the lives of badgers. We ask all our supporters,
and everyone who is able, to please click the Donations link in
the menu at the side of the page and go to the Badger Trust website
to make a contribution. We thank you, in anticipation of your
support.
Tuesday, 11th, an advertising campaign to question, and draw attention to, the
Welsh Assembly Government's (WAG) unscientific, unethical and
cruel policy on badgers began with an advert in the Western Mail
newspaper today, Tuesday, 11th May, 2010. The advertising campaign
is aimed at everyone, from ordinary members of the public, to
politicians, to farmers. Save The Badger believe that WAG's planned
badger "cull" should be highlighted and challenged in every arena.
We are also aware that the government are surprised at the determination
we all have to fight their policy, and our willingness to give
time, effort and financial resources to this campaign. To view
the advert, please click on the image below.
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ON THIS SITE
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With the Welsh Assembly Government declaring that they intend
carrying out the mass slaughter of Badgers within the next few
months, time is of the essence. All those who oppose their actions
need to start talking to each other. We need to join together.
We need to plan a a coordinated response. And, we need to do that
now!
Save The Badger was set up as an umbrella group to coordinate the campaign against
the Welsh Assembly Government's plan to slaughter badgers by the
thousand in Wales in early 2010. It will of course also fight
any similar plans by the Westminster government or any of the
other devolved powers in the UK.
Please take the time to look through the pages on our site.
We will try to bring you any up to date information and news
which is of particular relevance – if you want more general information,
please go to one of the other sites where you will find a lot
of background information.
We will also periodically feature the views and opinions of prominent
individuals who oppose the WAG decision. We begin with a piece
by Welsh writer and environmental activist, John Evans. This is
a must read!
Don't forget, we want to hear your news, and we also want you
views. We must unite together to fight this premeditated act of
barbarity.
Please contact us by clicking the link at the side of the page.
"The evidence is that a badger cull on a scale or level of efficiency
that seems feasible will not solve cattle farmers' problem – that
problem is truly serious. Understandably, the feeling is that
something must be done, but the evidence is that it should not
be a badger cull." Sir David Attenborough
“We must not make badgers scapegoats for bovine TB”. Joanna Lumley
"I say no to this or any other badger cull and I urge all caring
people to do the same. Get rid of ignorance, not badgers.” Benjamin Zephaniah
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OTHER ORGANISATIONS AGAINST THE CULL
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