FORTY-ODD years of slaughtering thousands of badgers and cattle, a decrease in bovine TB? Well no, except when pre- and post-movement of cattle was implemented, and no testing at all during the foot and mouth outbreak, so badgers and cattle slaughtered needlessly.

It has been a pro-blame badgers lobby along with the Government’s plan to cull badgers claiming it would decrease bovine TB which has driven the cull policy, making much of the many cattle slaughtered. More cattle are slaughtered because of mastitis foot and other disease, apart from the many male calves killed, the horrors our exported animals suffer when reaching their destination, practices in ritual and other slaughterhouses, the millions of farm animals slaughter annually , the millions of CAP money going into the bull fighting industry in Spain , although voted down by MEP’s there is still a loop hole , yet not the same show of concern from the pro badger cull lobby and government.

Then the concern for public health ploy, strange the UK import tons of tb infected meat from Brazil, and even sold off tons of meat from UK tb infected cattle, so not concern for public health then !,well no The whole badger cull programme is based on a false premise, it’s more to do with political expediency because the EU will not accept cattle which have been vaccinated or their meat, so more about business than concern for farmers, rural communities, public health, welfare of our farm animals/wildlife.

All this farce has done is give the badger haters/blood sports element a sense of justification to carry on with their pastime, a sad reflection in this, the 21st century.

D M Thomas, Hisomley, Westbury