05.07.08
The RSPCA is calling on the government, farmers and animal welfare groups to work together to build a long-term strategy to fight bovine tuberculosis (bTB).
The Society strongly supports the reported government decision to reject a badger cull in England, and wants to help build a united front against the disease.
The RSPCA believes:
- a bTB vaccine for badgers could be licensed within two years - but much more work is needed to produce a similar vaccine for cattle
- there should be better funding for bio-security measures, and other assistance, to ensure a disease-prevention plan is in place for every farm
- a programme of risk assessments should be put in place on key farms vulnerable to bTB.
RSPCA chief scientific officer Alastair MacMillan said: "We all want to stop this disease, and we need a robust, scientific and sustainable plan to fight it in both cattle and badgers.
"We are calling on the government, farmers and everyone involved to work together for a long-term strategy to tackle bovine TB.
"The RSPCA will be looking at a range of ways that we could help, such as using our wildlife centres to provide more knowledge of badger behaviour to study the best methods to immunise wildlife."
Relentless killing not a long-term answer
The RSPCA believes the scientific evidence against a badger cull is compelling, and other organisations, such as the National Trust and RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds), have said that they would not take part in a cull.
Dr Rob Atkinson, RSPCA's head of wildlife science, said: "The most authoritative research ever undertaken on badger-culling took nearly 10 years, cost £34million and the lives of more than 11,000 badgers.
"It concluded that 'badger-culling can make no meaningful contribution to cattle TB control in Britain'. This decision is based on compelling evidence, and it's absolutely the right one for cattle, badgers and farmers alike.
"Repeated culling was never going to be a genuine solution, and relentless killing is certainly not a long-term answer to the problem of bovine TB.
"Our opposition to a badger cull is based on solid science not sentiment. The RSPCA cares as much about cattle welfare as badgers, so we are keen to work with farmers and the government to find positive solutions to the challenge of TB in cattle."
photo © RSPCA Photolibrary/Andrew Forsyth
