Undercover Investigation Reveals Horrific Abuse in Badger Culls

For a nation of supposed animal lovers, the UK government’s Support for a controversial badger cull to prevent the spread of TB in cattle is going to make a lot of people sick.

The Hunt Investigation Team has released undercover footage taken in Cumbria showing a badger trapped in a cage and then shot. The poor badger takes over a minute to die from their wounds, extending their suffering needlessly for something that is not even their fault. And what makes things even worse is that the badger, once dead, was removed from the site without being bagged and sealed in accordance with the government’s own biosecurity guidelines. Environmental secretary Michael Gove is looking to expand this culling, showing clear ignorance of the problem and the plight of Britain’s largest indigenous carnivore.

Dominic Dyer, CEO of the Badger Trust said, “The brutal slaughter of tens of thousands of badgers in the biggest destruction of a protected species in living memory is a national disgrace.” The trust estimates that around 75,000 badgers will be killed legally by the government approval of 11 licenses for their cull!

Since money is the only thing that makes people sit up and listen for things, then here is a sobering thought for the government. The cost of trapping and shooting a badger works out at more than £1,000 ($1,300) per animal. In comparison, cage capturing in order to vaccinate and then release a badger only costs £200. Help us with the math here, because this seems like such an obvious alternative…

The Government has released data which is disputed by Animal rights groups that shows a significant drop in TB incidences amongst cattle in the counties of Gloucestershire and Somerset. There are 48 counties in the UK, meaning this sample size is not an accurate picture of what is happening throughout all of the UK’s cattle farms. So while we agree that the issue of TB for cattle farmers is one that needs to be addressed and resolved, surely there is a better way to go about this than killing innocent badgers.

A Hunt Investigation Team spokesmen said, “Our team have been active protecting badgers in multiple cull zones. In areas we could not actively defend, we placed hidden cameras in order to evidence malpractice and cruelty associated with the cull. Badgers are paying the price for a disease in cattle that is caused by human mismanagement.”

There is absolutely no need for animals to suffer because of human mistakes! Please be a voice for these badgers: sign petitions, email Michael Gove to urge him to rethink his plans for these culls, and raise awareness for the plight of these badgers.

Image Source: Pixabay