DEFRA chief vet to face cull criticism

DEFRA’s chief vet is set to face questioning from campaigners opposed to a badger cull after he agreed to answer their concerns on the science behind the government’s plans.

Nigel Gibbens has agreed to respond to questions posted on 38 degrees, an online campaign group which has been protesting against killing badgers as a way to tackle bovine TB.

The site has collected nearly 32,000 signatures from members of the public who say other measures should be taken before badger culling is considered.

The majority of respondents say scientific evidence collected from previous cull trials does not support government plans to carry out trial badger culls in disease hotspots.

To answer some of the criticism, Professor Gibbens has agreed to respond to questions on badgers, culling, vaccines and bovine TB.

A selection of questions posted on 38 Degrees by 5pm on Tuesday (13 September) will be sent to DEFRA for him to answer.

The answers will be published on the website on Thursday (15 September), while Prof Gibbens will answer follow-up questions the following day.

Prof Gibbens has already entered the 38 Degree debate after he posted on the site in August.

Following the campaign’s launch, he wrote: “As DEFRA’s chief veterinary officer, I’d like to correct some of the serious inaccuracies I’ve seen here. The Randomised Badger Culling Trial shows conclusively that badgers contribute significantly to bovine TB in cattle.”

He said the badger cull could reduce the incidence of bovine TB in a 150sq km local area by an estimated 16%, equating to 47 cattle herd breakdowns prevented.

“The estimated benefit was agreed by a group of eminent scientists.”

Mr Gibbens said DEFRA believed vaccines should be part of the solution, alongside other measures, “but so far we don’t have a workable one”.

“The best option would be a usable oral badger vaccine, which we’re working hard to develop, but a useable vaccine is much further away than we thought and although this remains a research priority, it may never be ready for wide-scale use.”

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