Labour intends to strengthen the existing legislation to further protect badgers and their sets – Elliot Morley – Labour Party Animal Welfare Brief -1994
The TB99 (disease investigation report) completed by experienced Veterinary Officers for every outbreak and an analysis of these from 1986 to 1995 by the Epidemiology Unit, Weybridge found approximately 90% of new herd incidents were considered badger origin (MAFF.1995, Clifton-Hadley 1995).
Always a Badger Disease – Now some scientists claim a Cattle Disease – What is the Truth ?
Please see the documents referred to on the website, in particular the British Cattle Veterinary Association Killarney Report by Gallagher and Sainsbury, among the important key evidence excluded by the Independent Scientific Group, commissioned by the Labour Government to delay badger culling. TB has long been proven to be an endemic bacterial disease of the badger, and not a cattle disease, by specific research in 1976, 1955 and 1935, and the Central Scientific Laboratory TB Report – July 2004
One Badger soon becomes Eleven - Surveys of badger numbers show a massive increase in numbers and predation damage.
Stopping the selective dispatch of sick badgers, by protecting them, and refusing to grant licences to humanely dispatch them, as allowed for in the legislation, will cost the taxpayer unnecessarily, over £3bn. The Labour Party profits from the organised crime of the Animal Rights campaigns, and Defra participates willingly.
Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management - Number of Cattle Slaughtered because of uncontrolled infected Badgers
A wide range of species are under threat of extinction because they are eaten by badgers - Hedgehog, frogs, toads, lizards, smooth snakes, sloe worms, lapwing, all ground nesting birds, small mammals and nectar storing insects. Importantly badgers empty the larder for many other species, such as owls and overall have a devastating environmental and ecological impact.
Proof of Misconduct in Public Office
We have no evidence of endemic TB in Badgers – Professor John Bourne – Five minutes into the First Public ISG Meeting in November 2003 after Sixty Four Closed Meetings and an expenditure of £45 million. A blatant lie.
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a very important disease of cattle in Great Britain, where it has been increasing in incidence and geographical distribution. In addition to cattle, it infects other species of domestic and wild animals, in particular the European badger (meles meles) - A restatement of the natural science evidence base relevant to the control of bovine tuberculosis in Great Britain, published by the Royal Society – Godfray, Donnally, Koa, Macdonald et al.- 16 DEC 2013.
This disgraceful paper flies in the face of well-established evidence that bTB is a badger disease, verified by searching 189 papers referring to TB in Badgers being endemic, and the Gallagher and Sainsbury paper extract below.
Badgers found with generalised terminal disease usually become super-excretors causing massive contamination, and it is these that are more likely to be the source of large numbers of multiple reactors. Annual and often more frequent testing in the TB problem areas results in repeated removal of cattle reactors in the early stages of infection before they present a risk to others.
But a self-perpetuating reservoir of TB infection in badgers has long been recognised (Gallagher et al, 1976) in which disease in the badger can
progresses to emaciation and death.
However, the pathology differs fundamentally from that in cattle. The infected badger shows a brief period of low grade hypersensitivity before developing an anergic type of reaction associated with considerably larger bacillary numbers than are seen in hypersensitive cattle. Also it commonly exhibits more opportunities for excretion, not only from contaminated sputum and faeces but also from urine and discharging bite wound abscesses. In the badger, the kidney is the most frequent site of spread following generalisation and counts equivalent to 5 X 10 x 6 bacteria have been recorded in a full urination of an advanced case (Gallagher and Clifton-Hadley, 2000).
This represents a potentially massive contamination of pasture and together with contaminated sputum where badgers have been foraging for worms, these discharges present a real source of infection for other animals using that pasture.
British Cattle Veterinary Association, Killarney Conference Report – TB: Do we have a Control Policy ? - Gallagher and Sainsbury – March 2009 – Report on www.britishwildlifemanagement.net - Badger Management.
Further Proof of Misconduct in Public Office.
Professor John Bourne – Monday 18th June 2007 – Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - Examination of Witnesses (Questions 60 - 79) – Minutes of Evidence. Professor John Bourne, chairman of the Independent Scientific Group stated: "Let us go back to 1999 when we started our work. It was made very clear to us by ministers of the day - and they have not refuted it since - that elimination of badgers over large tracts of countryside was not an option for future policy". - "It was on that basis that we designed the trial. We also had to take into account welfare considerations with respect to culling used, and limitations on culling with respect that cubs were not killed or died underground. Those were clear political limitations that we operated under; I have no reason to believe that those political limitations have changed".
"We repeatedly say "culling, as conducted in the trial." It is important [that] we do say that:. Those limitations were not imposed by ourselves. They were imposed by politicians." - "Whatever has driven that I do not know but the fact is that a price has been put on the badger in this country, which related to the way we were able to carry out our scientific work. That is exactly what we report".
What had driven limitations imposed by politician’s, was the initial £1.1 million donation to Labour and other Animal Rights Industry funds
collected mainly from vegetarians, vegans and animal rights protesters – MP’s failed to act on this evidence - EM.
Krebs Trials discredited by the Staff who carried out the work - Memorandum submitted by P Caruana (BTB 33).
Transcript of evidence submitted to the EFRA Select Committee on TB, Feb 2006 - Ev 96 - Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Evidence.
My name is Paul Caruana and I work for the Defra Wildlife Unit (Polwhele) that is currently wrapping up the Krebs Trial. I have worked in the unit for 11 years - five as a field’s person, four as a Field Supervisor and the last three as a Field Manager (Higher Scientific Officer). I have been involved in the live testing regime of the early 1990s, the Badger Removal Operations of the mid 1990s and the current Krebs Trial since its inception. I feel that my experience as an ex RAF Logistics Officer and as an individual that has had lots of "hands on" experience could be valuable to any balanced and rational debate affecting the future policy in handling the current TB epidemic.
To start with, I feel I have enough anecdotal evidence gathered over my 12 years, to have a good feel for what should have happened in the war against TB. Unfortunately, and as I know only too well, this type of evidence isn't usually acceptable, but here it comes anyway: 5
1. Badger removal operations worked well when the land being culled was made fully available, not just the area dictated by vets.
2. Where badgers were totally removed from a farm, that farm, after it had its infected cattle culled, often stayed clear of TB for up to 10 years.
3. We stayed on farms for up to three months to ensure that ALL badgers were caught - unlike the Krebs eight days per year trapping regime.
4. You do not need large scale culling for it to be effective if the culling effort is
robust from the start.
5. Krebs had too many anomalies and weaknesses in the strategy for it to be successful. It took us four years to steer away from trapping sets, that had been interfered with by Animal Rights Activists, to being able to trap badgers anywhere in order to eliminate them. That is only one of the raft of operational problems we faced and had to endure.
6. Limited trapping - eight days per year with Krebs - has little effect if carried out late in the year - the effect being that areas went almost two years without an effective cull.
7. The costs for a future culling policy must NOT be based on Krebs costings. The Wildlife Unit have many great ideas on how to reduce costs vastly should the State remain involved in it. Give the Unit a chance to see how innovative it can be when it comes to reducing operating costs. Krebs was ridiculously expensive for what it delivered.
8. The Public and NFU are demanding that "professionals" remain involved to ensure adequate training is given to those with the task to do, and to ensure that animal welfare and humaneness remains a number one priority. Overseeing the task will give some comfort to those who fear that this might not be the way.
9. Compulsory entry onto farms is a must when considering what Policy to adopt. Making farms who receive Government subsidies participate in one of its schemes must be made compulsory. Krebs has proven that wide scale non - cooperation does make it nigh on impossible to operate effectively.
10. The Krebs Reactive strategy was prematurely ended in my opinion. The results used also showed us that in areas we had never operated in (areas S2 and H1 which had a very limited cull) also displayed the same increase in TB outside of the areas. That has to have another logical reason for the increase, as it clearly was not badger culling related. This point has yet to be satisfactorily made and answered.
11. The combined knowledge of the staff involved in all of the previous culling strategies has never been utilized or sought when putting together a Policy. Why can't the common sense approach ever be used when facing problems such as TB. We feel that we have the answers, if only somebody would listen to us. Details of the possible ways of operating are being submitted to the TB Consultation committee.
12. Being prepared to change a policy, to let it evolve, is a must. All strategies have seen staff restrained in what they would like to do, often flying in the face of common sense. Taking the risk - isn't that what it often needs to make things work properly? We have been shackled for too many years by rules and red tape - now is the time to be radical and make things change for the better.
I have probably said enough about the strategies I have operated under. I know that my staff feel exactly the same way as I do on these matters. Scientists do not have all the answers, and most certainly, Krebs doesn't. The Trial has far too many flaws in it to be trusted to produce meaningful evidence. I know what happened on the ground - the scientists only have the results which we provided them to work with. I know that those results could and should have been much better and useful than they currently are. Nobody, and I mean nobody, working on the Trial at grass root level believed that operating under the too strict and inflexible regime that Krebs put in place could work successfully. All the common sense answers to everyday problems were too often ignored because "things had to be carried out scientifically" to mean anything. The whole basis of Krebs was to remove badgers off the ground. For the first four years, that effort was farcical due to the restrictions
placed upon us. Repeated requests to change operating methods were ignored. With that in mind, how much weight do we give the latest ISG report.
Comment by Edmund Marriage
Defra Wildlife Unit staff, involved in the Krebs Trials, have the greatest practical experience and detailed knowledge of the problems associated with Culling Badgers. They were not allowed to enter the debate, because Professor Bourne had instructions from Elliott Morley that killing badgers was not acceptable to the public. In his Labour Party Animal Welfare Brief (1995) he committed himself to supporting the protection policies of the Animal Rights Industry led by the RSPCA, regardless of the facts. The evidence based on these trials is unsound.
This Wildlife Unit was closed down by Defra, and the former skilled staff, now working in the private sector on pest control issues, are the best people to reveal the truth on what really happened, and provide advice on solutions.
Badgers – Conclusion
It should not be a surprise to those with good knowledge of the past roles of Elliot Morley and Barbara Young in the RSPB and in Government, that Defra and Natural England are still dominated by Labour Party activists and EU orientated supporters. Their hostile agenda against land owners, wildlife managers, upland farmers, commoners, graziers, and key parts of the British agricultural sector, including the Somerset levels, has delivered catastrophic results, and record levels of farmer suicides
Simple Solution at Low or No Cost
Super-excreter’s, along with other old or sick badgers, are driven out of the
setts and badger territory by the younger dominant badgers, leaving them with no alternative but to seek food, water and shelter near farms and livestock.
These sick animals, some of whom will carry one and a half million bacteria in a tea spoon full of urine, were proven by the State Veterinary Service 1985-96 to be directly responsible for TB in cattle in 90% of new herd infections. Not the 6% dishonestly claimed by Labour in the House of Commons.
Badger baiting, deceitfully confused with baying by the Animal Rights Industry, has never been proven to be part of modern working terrier practice. Despite continuing requests for evidence of baiting, none has been produced by the Labour Party Charity’s RSPCA, LACS, Badger Trust or the National Wildlife Crime Unit.
Action required -The selective, humane and effective all year round management of the badger population, as developed over more than three
hundred years and perfected by the National Working Terrier Federation, who operate legally on fox control at the earth throughout the British Isles.
Free traditional best practice, through licencing existing specialists, who will concentrate on the searching by scent, locating, and dispatch with a close range head shot, the sick super-excreter’s, together with the old weak badgers. This is a duty of care under existing laws – in extremis.
The use of a trained dog to follow a scent trail, with the aim of locating (without physically coming into contact with) an injured badger, does not require a licence and can be carried out under an exemption provided in the Hunting Act.
Bovine TB Under Control in Three Years
The licenced local badger managers, with full knowledge of fox earths and badger sets in their area, would also be required to identify infected sets with the PCR test, and apply in-situ-euthanasia using an approved anaesthetic, such as carbon dioxide, which is heavy enough to sink to the bottom of deep setts, and provides no after effects if the badger receives a non-lethal dose
What do the RSPCA and the Badger Trust Members Really Think about Sick Badgers ?
The RSPCA, including director Gavin Grant at a recent badger cull public meeting, have confirmed that searching for, locating and dispatching sick super-excreter badgers with a close range head shot, would not be successfully prosecuted.
On the Friday 29 August 2014 in South Wales at the Badger Trust AGM, Chief Veterinary Officer of Wales, Christianne Glossop asked the audience if they would support the humane dispatch of sick badgers - there was a massive show of hands.
Badger Suffering – The Veterinary Evidence
Pictorial and horrific evidence that badgers do indeed suffer when TB is left within the wildlife reservoir - as it is in large parts of the UK. The RSPCA - for reasons one finds hard to understand - play down the effects of TB in badgers. This post mortem was carried out by veterinary personnel: - the lesions were ripe and the liquid is puss, which gushed out as they cut. This is what happens to a tuberculosis lesion.
Surely it is ironic that those who attempt to exonerate badgers of being the reservoir of TB infection for cattle show such little concern for the suffering those badgers with TB undergo? The usual route for the TB bacilli to enter the body is either by inhalation or by ingestion. (They can enter through open wounds and bites). Either way the bacilli pass through the throat before going down the trachea to the lungs and/or down the oesophagus to the intestinal tract. The bodies' first line of defense after a challenge from TB is the lymph glands, which become inflamed and then develop abscesses - lesions. lymph glands are scattered throughout the body. There are three pairs of glands in the throat, five
groups in the chest and many hundreds protecting the intestinal tract. lesions in the chest glands can therefore be the result of either inhalation or ingestion of the bacilli. After a period of time - months or even years, shorter if the challenge was very high, then the bacilli will break out from the gland(s) into the blood stream to settle in various organs, particularly those with a filter system - the lungs, liver and kidneys. Here the body attempts to isolate the infection by walling it off to form other abscesses. It is at this stage that the animal begins to suffer and
becomes infectious to others. Except in an outbreak of many months or even years duration, when some cattle will be ill and have multiple lesions, the majority (90%+) of reactor cattle will have no lesions when post-mortemed. This is because, although the animal has been challenged there has been insufficient time for them to develop. Lesions, when found are mainly in the glands of the throat and/or lungs, with a few in the intestinal ones - Badger Suffering - Villain and Victim - David Denny - Farmers Guardian - 27/6/96 - British Wildlife
Management.
Summary
There is little point in investing in cattle meat and milk production in the Uplands or Lowlands, even remotely detached from the current spread of bovine TB, until this dreadful bacterial disease is brought under control.
The Independent Expert Panel (lEP) report conclusions, now available for scrutiny by the public, on the flawed concept of shooting badgers with a rifle from a distance were predictable, with walking wounding rates around 15%, and cost per badger over £4,500. Few if any sick badgers were identified.
This was a plan engineered by Defra to ensure that protecting the diseased badger would be continued, in order to meet Labour Party obligations to the very well organised Animal Rights Industry, who have funded them by at least £2mn. Defra are in control of policy.
Vaccination at a cost of £3,000 over five years for each badger, does not work, and will not work. Another political herring and waste of money.
Supporting documents on www.britishwildlifemanagement.net Badger Management.
BCVA Congress, Killarney TB : DO WE HAVE A CONTROL POLICY ?
J Gallagher and R M Sainsbury – March 2009.
A corrupt and incompetent Government, which has failed to tell the truth, Wasted taxpayer funds, unlawfully abused tenant rights, and showed
utter contempt for the Agricultural Industry and its Viability (2009).
TB and Badgers Fact Sheet as at 20 Jan 2014 - Supplement to A Corrupt and Incompetent Government (2009).
Badger Shooting and Wounding – This submission features the evidence and linked issues, which relate to the shooting of badgers from a distance with high powered rifles in the hands of experienced licensed marksmen, using the considerable volume of research already available for the deer and fox.
Welsh Farming Industry Co-operates in Badger Survey.
Tuberculosis in badgers; a review of the disease and its significance for other animals - J.Gallagher and R.S. Clifton-Hadley -Truckle Park,
Lustleigh, Devon TQ13 9TF. and Central Veterinary Laboratory, Veterinary Laboratories Agency, New Haw, Addlestone, Surrey, KT15 3NB.
Badger Vaccination from the Veterinary and Medical Perspectives.
Edmund Marriage - e-mail:
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