The past few days have revealed further appalling news of illegal farming practices. Milk from infected cattle near Tewkesbury has been sold into the food chain for a considerable period of time since October 2010 [1]. In addition, a farmer and her daughter in Weston-Super-Mare have flouted cattle movement controls, apparently giving no thought to the potential damage to others in the farming industry [2].
David Williams, Chairman of Badger Trust said: “It is not badgers selling infected milk behind the public’s back and moving untested cattle around the country. It is man, represented by farmers who care less than nothing for either the public or their honest, law-abiding colleagues in the industry. The great shame is the time lapse between the actual offences and the convictions – how many more animals have been infected by cattle to cattle transmission while the necessary investigations took place?”
He continued: “Against this background of major transgressions within the farming industry – and these well-documented cases may be the tip of the iceberg – we ask yet again how the coalition government can persist with the pilot trials due to commence very shortly in parts of West Gloucestershire and West Somerset? There are a multitude of farmers who do not support the NFU view that a cull is necessary. They would like to see greater attention focussed on the ability to vaccinate cattle against bovine TB in the same way as they vaccinate against other diseases affecting their stock.
Badger Trust calls on the government to cancel the ill-conceived pilot trials which will add nothing to the scientific knowledge surrounding the disease. They should concentrate instead on expediting the production of the cattle vaccine, improving testing techniques and accuracy and resolving EU legislation in respect of the export market.”
NOTES
[1] Western Daily Press, 29th June 2013
[2] The Bristol Post, 2nd July 2013
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Jeff Hayden
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