Save 60,000 Badgers from Slaughter
36,340 signatures toward our 50,000 Goal
Sponsor: The Animal Rescue Site
The UK wants thousands of badgers dead to prevent bovine TB when there are humane and less expensive alternatives.
Thousands of cattle are euthanized every year in the UK due to bovine tuberculosis, more than 130,000 badgers have been killed since 2013 to stop it, and 60,000 more are about to be needlessly slaughtered for the same reason1.
Bovine TB is transmissible between badgers and cattle, but the Randomized Badger Culling Trial conducted between 1997 and 2010 found that "badger culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain2."
A more humane and cheaper alternative is vaccinating the badgers, which farmers in Wales have been employing for several years. In 2019, 12,189 cattle were slaughtered in Wales due to bovine TB3. In other parts of the UK, as many as 30,000 cattle a year may be euthanized. Stricter cattle testing and movement restrictions paired with badger vaccination have brought the persistence of bovine TB down significantly.
The British parliament promised to phase out the badger cull in the spring of 2020, opting for vaccinating and releasing the animals rather than killing them4, but changed its stance just a few months later.
The UK has since extended the badger cull to 11 new areas of England1. Targeting these animals now is not only a betrayal of trust, it runs contrary to economic sense and science fact.
"... the best estimates show that most cattle herds that acquire TB are infected by other cattle herds," said Prof Rosie Woodroffe at the Zoological Society of London4.
A major reason for the persistence of bovine TB in the UK is frequent transportation of infected cattle5, coupled with a lack of consistency in sanitation and testing on cattle farms. If these problems are not addressed first, the UK could feasibly exterminate its entire badger population before its bovine TB problem is solved.
But you can help us stop the slaughter.
Add your signature to the petition below and tell the UK government to call off the planned badger cull, opting for vaccinations instead.
- Patrick Barkham, The Guardian (7 September 2020), "Badger cull extended in England with more than 60,000 in line of fire."
- Angela Cassidy, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences (4 July 2015), "'Big science' in the field: experimenting with badgers and bovine TB, 19952015."
- Llwodraeth Cymru Welsh Government (14 August 2019), "Incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in cattle in Great Britain: May 2019."
- Damian Carrington, The Guardian (5 March 2020), "'Seismic shift': ministers signal end of badger cull."
- Patrick Barkham, The Guardian (17 December 2019), "TB infection from cow to cow more likely than transmission by badger."
The Petition:
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and leaders of the UK government,
60,000 badgers are about to be needlessly slaughtered when your government could save money on a more humane, and more effective, means of combating bovine tuberculosis.
The Randomized Badger Culling Trial conducted between 1997 and 2010 found that badger culling does little to curb bovine TB. A more humane and cheaper alternative is vaccinating the badgers, which farmers in Wales have been employing for several years. When paired with stricter cattle testing and movement restrictions paired the persistence of bovine TB has down significantly in Wales.
Most cattle herds that acquire TB are infected by other cattle herds. A major reason for the persistence of bovine TB in the UK is frequent transportation of infected cattle, coupled with a lack of consistency in sanitation and testing on cattle farms. If these problems are not addressed first, the UK could feasibly exterminate its entire badger population before its bovine TB problem is solved.
Bovine TB will not be curbed until the rest of the UK follows Wales' lead. Do not allow tens of thousands of animals to be slaughtered in a misguided effort to fight a disease that can be better addressed with more humane and more effective methods.
Sincerely,
