Badger cull protest group holds first meeting

A group formed in protest against the planned Welsh badger cull has held its first public meeting.

Save the Badgers said it presented a united front against “cruel” plans to kill badgers in parts of west Wales in a bid to tackle bovine TB.

John Evans, a member of the group which met in Llantrisant, said the public was not aware the scale of the cull meant badgers would be killed in their thousands.

“We need to unite to show the people of Wales there is so much opposition to this from so many organisations with all kinds of interests,” Mr Evans told the BBC.

“But on this one issue we all unite – we want to stop the cull of badgers in Wales.”

Mr Evans said the group planned “to demonstrate and protest and hopefully get people to change their minds”.

“We’re not advocating breaking the law,” he added. “We will stay within the law. We believe we have the public behind us.”

The assembly government gave the final go-ahead for the cull across 288 sq km of north Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in January.

The Badger Trust, which is also a member of Save the Badgers, is seeking a judicial review of the decision.