Further Reading (Tuberculosis)
To return to the article you were reading, please close this window
Plan to cull NI badgers
BBC News online
31 July, 2002
Badgers may be linked to Bovine TB
Proposals for a scientific culling of badgers
in certain parts of Northern Ireland, to see if it reduces the level
of tuberculosis in cattle, have been welcomed by the province's
chief veterinary officer.
Bovine TB has been on the increase in Northern
Ireland for a number of years and it costs the government millions
of pounds in compensation to farmers.
The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development
is to put the idea out to public consultation, and is proposing
a number of measures to control the disease.
However, animal welfare groups have argued against
a mass cull of the animals and said any plans must involve humane
methods.
Similar schemes in England and the Republic of
Ireland over the past 20 years have proved successful.
The chief veterinary officer for Northern Ireland,
Bert Houston, said the culling of badgers in the Irish Republic
could prove a useful model for the province.
"A study in east Offaly in the late 1980s
involved the removal of badgers over a large area and the subsequent
monitoring of Bovine TB in that area," he said.
"Over the following seven years, the incidence
of Bovine TB was almost half that of the adjoining control areas.
'Guesswork'
"What we need to do is to trial it within
Northern Ireland to discover if the same affects happens here."
Mr Houston said the proposals would involve a
scientific trial to gain more information about the role of badgers
in cattle TB and not an extensive widespread cull of the animals.
"Unfortunately we have to cull them in order
to gather hard, firm, scientific data but a lot of important research
will come out of this," added Mr Houston.
However, the Ulster Society for the Protection
of Cruelty to Animals said it was disappointing there was still
so much guesswork involved in determining whether badgers were responsible
for Bovine TB.
"We are disappointed that at the turn of
the century we are still having to test the situation to see what
the truth is," said USPCA director Stephen Philpott.
"We are also concerned on what the methods
would be to do this.
"In the past there have been some very unsavory
methods used to cull badgers and obviously we will be talking to
the department to see just how they are going to do that.
"If it is going to be a clear scientific
study to prove once and for all definitively whether badgers contribute
to Bovine TB or whether they don't, then certainly we would have
to accept that argument that they will have to cull some animals
to prove once and for all if that is the case."
"Our concern is the unnecessary suffering
of animals, whether it be badgers or cattle and we will be watching
this one closely and would like to think we could work and consult
with the department on this."
|
