badger cull

[WorcsWuss]

Hi

 

IMO are we sure that its just badgers that spread TB?

 

& why isnt there a vaccine for cattle?

 

To me it seems a short term solution to gas badgers as they eventually re-populate the area.

 

N

 

Because the vaccine used would show as a positive reactor in any subsequent TB testing so 'all' cattle would appear to have TB.

 

As it stands, infected cattle are slaughtered. I don't like it but that's the way it has to be sadly. I do believe that the only way to stop countless otherwise healthy cattle from being slaughtered down the generations is to control the badger population in the same way.

 

It's not practical to test every badger & cull selectively so the only choice open to us is to reduce numbers and then let nature take it's course....

[C.J]

It wasn't though, was it?

 

Ben Bradshaw made sure of that:001_rolleyes:

[jamez654]

NFG,

 

Deer can also spread TB but not the the same extent as badgers. It has also been found in cats on infected farms.

 

Cattle cannot be vaccinated because there is currently no test capable of distinguishing between infected and vaccinated cattle. The BCG vaccine as used it people has been tested in cattle but it is not very effective (it isn't very effective in people either).

 

 

Badgers will eventually repopulate the area. But if badgers are culled for a period and infected cattle are removed hopefully a healthy badger and cattle population can be achieved.

 

James

[Mark Bolam]

I thought new breakthroughs had been made in vaccination, and the main problem was financial?

 

A multi-pronged attack would have most chance of success IMO.

[cousin jack]

If you don;t think bovine tb had nearly been eradicated, just look at the statistics. Pre the badger becoming a protected species, bovine tb reactor numbers were at their lowest post war, since badger numbers have risen uncontrolled, so has bovine tb, year on year, and there are fewer cattle around now than then.

Foxes are controlled for the protection of ground nesting species, what happens when a badger comes across a curlew, lapwing, skylark, nest, they clean it up, thats what. Their numbers are also partly to blame for the decline of bumble bee nests and hedgehog numbers, the wildlife trusts don't want people to know this, so it's far easier to blame modern farming.

I don,t want to see them eradicated, but control would go some way to ensuring a healthy badger population as well as a healthy cattle population.

Unfortunately because their numbers are now so high, the initial cull is/has got to be heavy, and all methods should be used IMO, trapping, snaring and shooting.

Edited January 20, 2012 by cousin jack
muppetry

[Mark Bolam]

If you don;t think bovine tb had nearly been eradicated, just look at the statistics. Pre the badger becoming a protected species, bovine tb reactor numbers were at their lowest post war, since badger numbers have risen uncontrolled, so has bovine tb, year on year, and there are fewer cattle around now than then.

Foxes are controlled for the protection of ground nesting species, what happens when a badger comes across a curlew, lapwing, skylark, nest, they clean it up, thats what. Their numbers are also partly to blame for the decline of bumble bee nests and hedgehog numbers, the wildlife trusts don't want people to know this, so it's far easier to blame modern farming.

I don,t want to see them eradicated, but control would go some way to ensuring a healthy badger population as well as a healthy cattle population.

Unfortunately because their numbers are now so high, the initial cull is/has got to be heavy, and all methods should be used IMO, trapping, snaring and shooting.

 

[sussexlad]

sorry couldnt find the 'ditto' smily

definatley agree, dont want to see the species really suffer but its got to the point now where some control is needed.

[zeroluke]

Has it ever occured to you that thinking your way isn't the only way? There is a way of indicating cattle have been vaccined. A spray marker on the animal, or a microchip proving it is vaccined simple, and fairly inexpensive. Given that my alfie cost next to nothing ( 25 quid, maybe ) at a vets. Micro chipping a cow should be no more expensive than a pet cat, if not cheaper. Some vets literally do it for next to nothing. Culling badgers won't solve it, as TB can survive in the soil you walk on, the water you drink, and in a hot summer the air you breath. Chile and argentinian farmers vaccined their cattle and they were fine after. Also, if you organised and arranged it amongst yourselves it would be cheaper than paying into some government body to do it for you.

[3dogs]

If you don;t think bovine tb had nearly been eradicated, just look at the statistics. Pre the badger becoming a protected species, bovine tb reactor numbers were at their lowest post war, since badger numbers have risen uncontrolled, so has bovine tb, year on year, and there are fewer cattle around now than then.

Foxes are controlled for the protection of ground nesting species, what happens when a badger comes across a curlew, lapwing, skylark, nest, they clean it up, thats what. Their numbers are also partly to blame for the decline of bumble bee nests and hedgehog numbers, the wildlife trusts don't want people to know this, so it's far easier to blame modern farming.

I don,t want to see them eradicated, but control would go some way to ensuring a healthy badger population as well as a healthy cattle population.

Unfortunately because their numbers are now so high, the initial cull is/has got to be heavy, and all methods should be used IMO, trapping, snaring and shooting.

 

im trying to keep out of this, but well said that man:thumbup1:

[cousin jack]

Has it ever occured to you that thinking your way isn't the only way? There is a way of indicating cattle have been vaccined. A spray marker on the animal, or a microchip proving it is vaccined simple, and fairly inexpensive. Given that my alfie cost next to nothing ( 25 quid, maybe ) at a vets. Micro chipping a cow should be no more expensive than a pet cat, if not cheaper. Some vets literally do it for next to nothing. Culling badgers won't solve it, as TB can survive in the soil you walk on, the water you drink, and in a hot summer the air you breath. Chile and argentinian farmers vaccined their cattle and they were fine after. Also, if you organised and arranged it amongst yourselves it would be cheaper than paying into some government body to do it for you.

 

Read posts 9, 11, 13.

Did the Chilean and Argentine farmers have a protected species mammal acting as a cross contamination vector?