Commenting on the news that the Court of Appeal has reversed the judicial review supporting the Welsh Assembly Government’s Tuberculosis Eradication (Wales) Order 2009, Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates states:
“This is a deeply disappointing day for many farmers in Wales who have had the small spark of hope that this horrific disease may at last be tackled swiftly diminished. I hope that those campaigning against the cull realise that more animals will now be killed as a result of not taking action to reduce the incidence of bTB across Wales, as this disease will continue to invade farms across the country and over ten thousand cattle every year continue to be killed as a result.
“Farmers across Wales have been doing their bit to combat Bovine TB for decades and under the Welsh Assembly Government’s eradication programme they are now subject to more testing, movement restrictions and increased biosecurity measures than ever, all of which has a cost. This is no bad thing providing it can combat this disease, but these measures alone are futile unless we also tackle the reservoir of infection in wildlife, so that both cattle and wildlife can be rid of this horrific disease.
“I have witnessed first hand the suffering that Bovine TB can cause, devastating the lives and livelihoods of farming families as well as causing immense pain to both cattle and wildlife and I continue to support the Minister Elin Jones in her action to eradicate this disease for good. The Appeal decision may be over, but the trauma is far from over for farmers who live in fear of this disease day in, day out and as a result of this ruling will continue to do so as the disease continues to blight our countryside.
“I welcome the badger vaccination trials in England, but this will only protect healthy badgers and those that are infected will continue to roam onto farms, infecting cattle which then have to be killed while the badgers continue to roam unchecked. Even if vaccination proves successful, the trials will not be complete for five years and a cattle vaccine will not be here for some time after that, while in the meantime Bovine TB will continue to devastate the lives of farmers, cattle and wildlife across Wales.”
