green guy:
Johno,
I think many people have forgotten the poor old brock in all this.
There are many of us in the badger trust who would support a cull of infected badgers.
Many of us who want a healthy badger population to thrive rather than being wiped out with TB.
However if they find out who we are we will not be members for long.
There are too many extremists at the top, ones who believe a sick, TB riddled badger has a better life than no life at all.
The Governments decision has done the poor badger a great disservice.
I don't believe I've just read that.
Your 'leader' and his cohorts have the gall to stand up and prattle on about tuberculosis being 'all cattle to cattle transmission', and that the 'science supports this'. He is on record as describing the transmission as being caused by 14 million animal movements - a point the diminutive professor Bourne picked up as well. And even when the goddam BCMS data sheet was thrust in his paw, showing this referred to movement of DATA not hooves, and that 'on' movement s only accounted for 2 million, he still announced it. He completely spun the grammar on published work into hedgehog numbers - sheesh Alistair Campbell would have been proud. And yet, and yet.... I'm speechless - you say 'many of us want sick badgers culled' but 'if they find out who we are we will not be members for long'. Are you a man or a mouse? For four long bloody years a few of us have put up all informnation we can glean on the TB blog, which was started with the 538 parliamentary questions lobbed at Bradshaw, which supported our belief that epidemiologically, there was absolurely no need for the RBCT at all. We have help and advice of epidemiologists, veterinary scientists and animal behaviourists. And abuse and ridicule from the Badger Trust. We tried to appeal to the single collective brain cell - and bridge the gap. Close up the crazy polemics of badgers v. cattle.
And then I read 'we want sick badgers culled' for there own sake. Well hallelujah. Not every farmer -in fact very few - want to wipe out thousands of badgers. It is unachievable, unaccceptable and unecessary. Conversely when you've had 5 years of restrictions and 30 back to back 60 day tests and shot almost 50 home bred, some heavily pregnant cattle - then the Badger Trust propaganda machine could be the last straw.
Our herds were all home bred, three of us had no 'cattle' neighbours, the others good double fencing, and yet contrary to la Lawson's prattle we all suffered prolonged Tb breakdowns. The rubbish spouted on the Badger Trust website, is regurgitated verbatim by the groupies who DO support the Trust - as it is on these forums. So, Green Guy, you and your friends better stand up and be counted, because sure as God made little green apples, if tuberculosis gets much more widespread in the badger population, you won't have a 'cause' at all. And we will have no pleasure in saying 'We told you so', when the inevitable TB spillover hits the front pages of the red-tops, as someones pride and joy - cat or child - it's immaterial, they are all at risk, is confirmed with tuberculosis picked up from infected TB riddled badgers.
This bought-and-paid-for government is shooting the messenger. The canary in the coalmine; but the firedamp is still there - ready to explode. But what did Lawson and Yarnley say? 'Cows get killed anyway'. So that's all right then. Except it isn't. Spillover into other mammals from grossly infected badgers is occurring, and will inevitably get flagged up, as it becomes more widespread. Nearly 30 cats already, dogs, llamas, free range pigs, goats ....
On a previous post - a while ago, you mentioned using PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction technology - Dr. Roger Breeze would like to try it too). As far as I'm aware Warwick are the only ones with the primed box of tricks, Deathrow being the only source of the assay. I asked for more info on that.
You did not reply.