The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW), is extremely disappointed that the Minister for Rural Affairs Elin Jones has chosen to tackle the issues of bovine TB eradication in the same ‘doomed to fail’ way as previous, despite the evidence presented to the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG).
The rushed announcement of yet another badger cull proposal comes at a time when bTB figures have fallen significantly, due in part to the cattle measures already imposed. WTSWW fear that to start culling now would prevent learning anything more about the true effectiveness of the cattle measures and may mean that a costly cull programme will take place with no ability to prove thereafter whether its effects were positive or negative, or that it was even necessary.
Chief Executive of WTSWW Sarah Kessell said,
“The Minister’s decision is contrary to the consensus opinion of the badger control consultation, in which more than twice as many respondents believed that culling badgers was not justified and believed that vaccination was a viable alternative”.
Even the Minister’s own statutory consultee the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), believes that “vaccination, in conjunction with appropriate cattle herd management and effective testing regimes, is the most appropriate long term strategy for managing bTB in cattle”.
The timing of the announcement is extremely cynical, sandwiched between a referendum and Assembly election which will see the Order into force on 31st March the final day of the Assembly, denying the Welsh public the opportunity to seek better Assembly representation of their views.
Worryingly WTSWW does not believe that the proposed cull has any kind of exit strategy, since evidence demonstrates the long term impact would be to elevate TB prevalence in the local badger population. Indeed, even the Minister’s consultation sought opinion on a five year cull, whereas the Order has no time limit, allowing the Assembly indefinite rights to enforce access on land within the IAA.
