Defra Secretary of State Owen Paterson has published the Independent Expert Panel (IEP) report on the humaneness, safety and efficacy of the pilot badger culls in England, and the Government’s response. He has also published the full Bovine TB Strategy for England.
Commenting, BVA President Robin Hargreaves, said:
“Clearly the headlines from the IEP report raise a number of concerns about the humaneness and efficacy of controlled shooting of badgers. It is regrettable that the Secretary of State has announced his decision on the way forward without consulting key stakeholders, including BVA. We are unable to comment further on the announcement until we have had time to fully consider the report in consultation with our members.
“To date BVA has supported the use of targeted, humane badger culling in carefully selected areas as part of a comprehensive approach to tackling bovine TB. But we have made it clear that we can only support badger culling if the method used is humane, safe and effective. That is why BVA called for controlled shooting to be tested and critically evaluated against these criteria by an independent group of experts.
“Bovine TB is a devastating disease and we know that we need a comprehensive package of measures to tackle the disease in cattle and wildlife if we are to stop the advancing spread of TB northwards and eastwards.
“We broadly supported the draft bovine TB strategy when it was published in August last year, particularly the targeted measures in high incidence and edge areas.
“Regardless of our future response to the findings of the IEP, we will only be able to eradicate bovine TB if we tackle the disease in the wildlife reservoir as well as cattle.”
BVA is holding a joint meeting of its Veterinary Policy Group and Ethics and Welfare Group to discuss the report in detail and make policy recommendations to BVA Council, on which all members are represented via their regional rep.
