Welsh Badger Cull Decision Does Not Refute Science

Veterinary associations have expressed their deep disappointment in the Court of Appeal judgement on the Welsh Assembly Government’s (WAG) plans to cull badgers in the fight against bovine Tuberculosis (TB). The Court of Appeal today found in favour of the Badger Trust which had brought an appeal on three grounds, none of which challenged the science that links disease in wildlife with the spread of TB in cattle. The WAG had already conceded on one of the grounds that it would need to focus on the Intensive Action Pilot Area (IAPA) instead of a whole-Wales approach and this issue appears to have affected the judges’ decision on the other two grounds for appeal. Lord Justice Pill stated: “Had the Order been confined to the IAPA in north Pembrokeshire, I would have dismissed the appeal.” The British Veterinary Association (BVA) and British Cattle Veterinary Association (BCVA) will consider the full judgement of the three law lords and continue to support the WAG’s attempts to halt the spread of TB in Wales. Commenting, Professor Bill Reilly, President of the BVA, said: “Whilst we are deeply disappointed with this judgement it is important to note that the Court of Appeal decision is based on the way the Welsh Assembly Government came to its decision and not on the scientific evidence. “It is clear that the law lords accepted much of the evidence from the WAG that TB is a serious problem in Wales and that the Government must introduce a range of measures to tackle it. Indeed, the Badger Trust also conceded that badgers may contribute to the spread of TB and that intervention with badgers may be necessary to achieve the implementation of government policies. “The WAG will have to consider the detail of the judgement before making a decision on future policy, but the veterinary profession maintains that we need all available tools to tackle the spread of TB in both cattle and wildlife.” Neil Blake, Chair of the BCVA TB Group, added: “The WAG put forward a programme of control measures which, when taken together, provide for a balanced set of measures most likely to achieve a significant reduction in the incidence of bovine TB. The key to the proposed programme is that all options are available: additional cattle controls; additional biosecurity measures; and additional controls of infection in the wildlife population in areas of the country with high and persistent incidence of bovine TB. “It is important that the WAG, after consideration of the reasoning for the judgement made today, continues to pursue the strategy of this broad, multi-faceted approach to bovine TB; one that should include the option of additional controls of infection in the badger population.”

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