Letter: Badger cull issue is complex so check all the facts
John Mercer states the Government's policy on badger culling is science-led when it is clearly not.
The last large science-led culling trials were the Random Badger Culling Trials. The final report from the Independent Scientific Group came to the following conclusions:
1. While badgers are clearly a source of cattle TB, careful evaluation of our own and others' data indicates that badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain.
2. Weaknesses in cattle testing regimes mean that cattle themselves contribute significantly to the persistence and spread of the disease in all areas where TB occurs, and scientific findings indicate that the rising incidence of the disease can be reversed, and contained, by the rigid application of cattle-based control measures alone.
John Mercer also states that this will lead to both healthy cattle and badgers. The aim is to shoot 70 per cent of badgers of which there will be no testing to check whether they have TB or not. How is this in any way or form scientific?
Bovine TB is a hugely complex disease to which there is no silver bullet, and people should be checking statements for accuracy before voicing them.
Chris Cooke
All Stretton
