Media Release

20th March 2012

Welsh badger ‘cull’ scrapped in favour of vaccination

Statement from animal group Viva!, who have been campaigning against the decisions to ‘cull’ wildlife in England and Wales since 2008 – as the Welsh government announce they will not be ‘culling’ badgers in an attempt to control bovine TB.

John Griffiths (AM) has announced at the Senedd that Wales will not employ badger ‘culling’ as part of its policy to tackle TB spread in cattle.

Instead they will commence a policy of vaccination of badgers instead. John Griffiths has said: “This is the right thing to do and the right course of action.”

Viva! campaigns director, Justin Kerswell, says: “Viva! congratulates the political strength of Mr Griffiths in taking this decision and not being bullied into persecuting Welsh wildlife because of the failings of farmers. The coalition Government in England is now increasingly isolated in their decision to pursue killing badgers; a decision that is now shown to be increasingly unsound. We call on English politicians to follow Wales’ lead and dump the badger ‘cull’.

“We also ask consumers to remember that decisions to kill wildlife to protect cattle farming is both a political and an economic one. Namely to prop up the dairy and beef industries that created this mess in the first place.”

ENDS
For more information, visit www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/badgers or call the press office on 0117 944 1000 to speak to Justin Kerswell, or press officer, Helen Rossiter.