TB reaction: WFU ‘delighted’ with pilot cull plans

Members of the Women’s Food & Farming Union (WFU) say they are “delighted” with plans to introduce two pilot badger cull areas in England.

A representative from the WFU said they had been busy educating the public about the problem of unhealthy badgers in rural communities, through the publication of a ‘TB Trilogy’ explaining the role of badgers in bovine TB.

She said: “As wives, mothers and daughters, we are concerned about the emotional strain TB is inflicting on farming families and the potential health problems related with the levels of stress and also the associated risks of working with infected animals.

“We have no desire to eradicate badgers but we believe it is in their best interest to eradicate those infected with TB to protect the species. Ultimately, it is as much in the interest of the badger and the general public that bovine TB is eradicated as it is in the interest of the farmer.

“As an organisation we would very much like to promote the return of a healthy badger population in the future years following a cull to eradicate disease.”

For more information on badger culling and bovine TB, visit our special badger cull page.