  
Simon King OBE Internationally famous wildlife photographer, presenter and writer
and film maker. Simon King OBE, gives his views on the Welsh Assembly
Government’s decision to "cull" badgers. We are on the brink of witnessing a gross miscarriage of justice,
where the victims are innocent and naïve and have no voice to
speak for themselves. I refer to the proposed killing, or as some would prefer to use
- “culling” - of wild badgers, which is being contemplated by
the Welsh Assembly. The scientific work looking into the link between wild badgers
and Bovine TB in cattle in this country, conducted at great expense
and with impartial participants, has left no doubt as to the inefficacy
of a badger cull in the control of the disease in Britain. It
would at best, be a complete waste of time and money, and at worst
a travesty, killing hundreds of healthy wild badgers with no long
term effect on the control and management of bovine TB. If the badger cull in Wales goes ahead it will, like all the other
culls that have gone before, prove nothing but the short sighted
and politicised debate that continues to muddy an issue which
should be looking at husbandry methods, vaccination, regional
variants and livestock movement and management before looking
for an innocent scapegoat to kill. I completely empathise with livestock farmers who have suffered
the effects of the disease, and strongly urge that the proposed
cull is declined and the same resources used to find a sustainable
management plan to help ensure our dairy herds remain healthy
and disease free into the future. 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 copyright © www.savethebadger.com |
