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Welsh agriculture minister calls for badger cull in Wales

08/04/2008

Wales is to cull all badgers in a defined geographical area in an attempt to cut bovine tuberculosis.

The Welsh Assembly government said that no final decision had been made regarding where the cull would be carried out or what method would be used to kill the badgers.

The decision made by Elin Jones, the Welsh agriculture minister, today, supports calls made by farmers who have long campaigned for the cull claiming that badgers spread disease to their cattle, however many animal groups are announced their dismay at the announcement.

"This is a difficult decision to take and it has not been taken lightly. I am very aware of the strong views on this issue," Ms Jones said when announcing her decisions to Assembly Members in Cardiff.

"I want to make it absolutely clear that the badger remains a protected species in Wales and the conditions of the Badger Act are firmly in force. Illegal action will not be tolerated," she added.

The RSPCA condemned the move claiming it was a "colossal mistake".

"This decision flies in the face of sound scientific judgement," John Avizienius, deputy head of farm animal science at the RSPCA, said.

"A cull would be a worrying waste of time, resources and badger lives. It also risks distracting attention from worthwhile efforts to reduce the spread of bovine TB in cattle," he added.

Ms Jones declared today that the pilot cull zone would be in an area of Wales with hard natural or manmade boundaries.

She also added that there would be one-off testing of all cattle herds in Wales to establish the extent of bovine tuberculosis infection.