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Battle over the badgers looming
The Welsh Assembly last week ordered a massive cull of badgers because they are alleged to spread bovine TB to cattle - and I fear that this will soon be the cause of another bitter battle here in England between animal lovers and farmers.
For a decade or more, farmers in the South West of England have been demanding a massive cull of these much loved but rarely seen creatures because thousands of cattle have contracted the disease - 28,000 last year alone.
But there is a worrying scientific conundrum at work here: bodies like the RSPCA claim that there is evidence that the situation should be reversed because many people believe that it is the cattle that are infecting the badgers.
This is a situation that, so far, has been of little concern to farmers here in Craven, for the nearest infected areas were until recently 200-plus miles away. But now, cases have been reported on the South Yorkshire border in Derbyshire.
Although this is worrying, it is also interesting. Badgers are known to travel quite long distances, particularly when young ones are looking to set up new territories. But the best part of 200 miles is out of the question.
As we in Craven know only too well from foot and mouth disease, cattle are transported hundreds of miles across the country virtually ever day. So does this suggest that it is the cattle which are the carriers here?
Whatever happens, Defra Secretary Hillary Benn is between a rock and a hard place. The son of "Wedgie" Benn, he is a vegetarian well-known for his compassion for animals. But, as a politician, he knows fine well that should he order a badger cull in England, animal lovers would rise up in the biggest protest since the fox-hunting ban.
I find myself in a quandary too. Much as I support the farmers, I would hate to see the eradication of any species of British mammal: we have so few left. And I worry too about the NFU's PR which, since foot and mouth, has earned great sympathy from the urban public.
The constantly "moaning farmer" image which prevailed for decades has almost been put to rest. To continue with a campaign of mass slaughter of badgers would set back that new image to the last century among the people who cough up the taxes to pay their subsidies.
My hope is that Defra will continue to pay farmers a decent price for any TB animals that have to be culled until science comes up with a suitable vaccination programme for both cow and badger.
3:32pm Thursday 17th April 2008
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