Charities launch fresh badger cull court challenge

Three animal rights charities have launched a fresh challenge against the pilot badger culls in England.

The group – the Badger Trust, Humane Society International UK and Care for the Wild – claim the culls breach the Bern Convention, an international agreement which protects wildlife.

They claim the removal of badgers could have a negative effect on other protected species, such as ground-nesting and song birds and small mammals.

And they argue that the culls are “unnecessary”, claiming that bovine TB can be controlled in cattle “without resorting to badger culls”.

See also: Badger cull to be rolled out in 2015, says Owen Paterson

Defra secretary Owen Paterson has repeatedly asserted that no country has ever eradicated bovine TB without tackling the reservoir of disease in wildlife .

A Defra spokesman said: “Bovine TB is a devastating disease for our cattle and dairy industries, which is why we are determined to do everything we can to combat it.

“Our policy was reviewed by the Bern Secretariat in 2012 and again earlier this year – and on both occasions they were satisfied that we complied with our obligations under the convention.”

The second year of the pilot badger culls, part of government plans to eradicate TB, is due to get under way in the two pilot counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire within weeks.

See also: Read more on the badger cull