Born Free badger lobby goes to Parliament
Born Free joined Badger Trust and hundreds of supporters to call for an immediate end to the badger cull.
L-R Gordon Maloney, AVAAZ; Dr Mark Jones, Born Free; Betty Badger (Mary Barton); Peter Hambly, Badger Trust; Robert Pownall, Protect the Wild; Susanna Feder (supporter)
On Tuesday 3 September, Born Free staff and supporters joined forces with Badger Trust and other charities and campaigners at Westminster, to call on the new Labour government to bring the culling of badgers to an immediate and permanent end.
The day began at the offices of the new Secretary of State at DEFRA, with the handing in of petitions organised by Born Free, Badger Trust, Protect the Wild and Avaaz, containing the signatures of more than 118,000 members of the public demanding an end to the culls.
Hector Bateman with Chris Packham
Supporters then gathered in Parliament Square opposite the Palace of Westminster, where several speakers emphasised the need for swift action from government. Born Free’s Head of Policy Dr Mark Jones, and Wildlife Advocate Dominic Dyer, both spoke passionately, with wildlife campaigner and broadcaster Chris Packham delivering the final speech.
Many participants then entered Westminster to lobby their MPs to convince the government to act, including Born Free’s youth ambassador Hector Bateman who spent 90 minutes in conversation with his local MP. Hector said: “The authorities have let farmers and the animals down, both livestock and wild animals. Culling badgers has not been shown to work in controlling the spread of bovine TB. I hope that this needless killing will be stopped.”
Since 2013, around a quarter of a million badgers have been cruelly shot under licence across large parts of England, as part of government-led efforts to reduce the spread of bovine TB among cattle.
Born Free has consistently campaigned against the culls on the grounds that they are unscientific, ineffective, inhumane and unnecessary.
Dominic Dyer speaking in Parliament Square
The previous Conservative government and its officials chose to ignore the mounting body of scientific evidence demonstrating that culling badgers has little impact on disease in cattle. The Labour administration in Wales has shown how Bovine TB in cattle can be reduced by focusing on improving cattle testing and on-farm biosecurity, and through stricter controls on cattle trading and movement, without targeting badgers.
Dr Mark Jones speaking outside the Houses of Parliament
Reflecting on the event, Dr Mark Jones said: “With the recognition that badger culling is ‘ineffective’ in its election manifesto, there was real hope that the new Labour administration would bring the culls to an immediate end.
“However, just a few days ago the government announced its intention to phase out badger culling by the end of the current parliament, which could see tens of thousands more badgers being targeted over the next five years. We need to keep the pressure on government to bring this travesty to an end. This event, and the number of people signing our petitions, show how passionately members of the public feel about this issue.
“One more badger killed in the name of this cruel and destructive policy is one too many. The time for our government to act is now.”
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