AND FARMERS – IN WALES
The news is that vaccination of badgers has become a cooperative project in Wales. Under Chief Vet Christianne Glossop, the trials are now well under way, and after a succession of talks with wild animal projects, including the constituent members of Team Badger, everything is now moving in the direction of cooperation, including sharing of the costs of vaccinating throughout Wales. A massive amount of work has gone into preparing this venture, and of course it’s only because the Welsh government decided to abandon plans to cull badgers that this has been able to come about.
The scheme benefits badgers of course, but it stands a very good chance of helping the Welsh farmers. Badgers are, at most, only 16 per cent of the problem farmers are facing, and the proportion may actually be much less. But vaccinating the badgers will produce ‘herd immunity’ against Bovine TB in the badger population in just few years, so at least the badgers will now be taken out of the equation.
The rest of the problem must be dealt with by doggedly pursuing the route to vaccination of cattle, and by tightening up practices in farming husbandry.
Let’s hope this initiative will turn the heads of the leaders of British farming, and that a similar scheme will soon be in operation in England. It CAN be done. It WILL help solve the problem. Randomly massacring badgers most certainly will not.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-23421173
Bri
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