In as little as 4 weeks, government-employed gunmen could start shooting badgers in the south of England. The usual cloak and dagger behaviour of DEFRA means we don't know where, and we don't know when. But it could be in as many as nine counties, rather than the 3 cull zones last year. Not only will this have a devastating effect on the badger population in the UK, it will also have a detrimental effect on tourism, and the safety of people in the cull zones. Moreover, top scientists have stated again and again that badger culling can actually increase the rates of bTB in cattle.
We can't allow this to happen.
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Sign our petition to Andrea Leadsom urging her to end the cull
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Thousands of you signed our petition to Elizabeth Truss when she was Secretary of State for the Environment. Thank you. As with every single one of NFA's petitions, we followed it up. We asked for a response from Ms Truss. This is what we received.
It is shocking that DEFRA is continuing to trot out the same tired excuses and justifications for their failing badger cull policy. It has been deemed ineffective and inhumane by top scientists, some of whom were once employed by the government for their expertise, only to be relieved from their positions when their findings weren't what DEFRA wanted to hear! Leading scientist, Professor John Bourne went as far as saying that the government's Chief Veterinary Officer, Nigel Gibbins "is wrong" in a recent House of Commons event which NFA attended.
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Sign our petition to Andrea Leadsom urging her to end the cull
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Will the new Tory government be any different?
New UK Prime Minister, Theresa May is on record as being against the badger cull. It is our hope that she will have a more scientific and rational approach to the cull than her predecessor and his cabinet. May has appointed Andrea Leadsom as her new Secretary of State for the Environment.
It would be easy to give up and stop fighting against the badger cull in the face of past government decisions and its inability to face facts. But NFA will never give in, and we ask that you don't either.
How you can help our badgers:
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Sign the urgent petition to Andrea Leadsom
Help with sett-surveying in the cull zones, and join a Wounded Badger Patrol
Donate today, so NFA can help in as many cull zones as possible
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