Open letter to Warwickshire MPs

29 September

Open letter to Warwickshire MPs from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust

I AM writing to urge you to oppose the Government’s proposals to pilot a licensed badger cull in England. Lord Krebs, Professor Bourne and other leading scientific experts have concluded that a cull will not be effective in tackling bovine TB and could make matters worse due to the ‘perturbation effect’. I enclose some information which explains how this effect is likely to undermine the efficacy of a cull.
Vaccination, biosecurity measures and accurate testing procedures are the most effective means to tackle bovine TB. The injectable badger vaccine is already in use by landowners such as the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and The National Trust – and we hope to initiate a programme here in Warwickshire in the near future. A cattle TB vaccine could be in use by the end of 2012 if not prevented by EU legislation.
Instead of proceeding with an ineffective cull of a native mammal, we seek your support in pressing the Government to pursue the following as a matter of priority:
Provide further support to farmers and land managers to use the injectable badger vaccine;
Secure change to EU legislation to permit a cattle vaccine;
Continue to support the development of an oral vaccine for badgers.
I hope you will help us to persuade the Government to re-evaluate this risky and unproven policy before a final decision is taken in the autumn. I enclose briefings on this topic which I hope will be useful to you.

Michael Bunney, Chair
Stephen Trotter, Chief Executive
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust