Latest News 12 Nov 2018
The rationale for the badger cull has been left in tatters, as senior vets break ranks with Defra to condemn the cull as both inhumane and ineffective. Senior veterinary professionals are now openly accusing the government of gerrymandering bovine tuberculosis figures to lend credibility to a failed policy.
This unprecedented intervention comes as the government’s own review of its cruel strategy (the Godfray report) concludes that ‘blaming wildlife’ cannot be an excuse to put off ‘making hard decisions in industry, which is going to cost the industry money.’
So why all the pain, slaughter and suffering of badgers, and why the millions spent pursuing a failed policy?
The answer lies in a series of intersecting interests between the government, the NFU, the finance industry, property developers and lucrative ‘shoots,’ all of whom can experience a loss of profit because of badger activity.
Most UK governments represent coalitions of investors, with centres of extreme wealth funding politicians and purchasing the ‘think tanks’ that shape policy. Corporations now exercise a virtual monopoly over government, media, and policy making bodies. In addition to this direct influence there’s the ever revolving door between donors, lobbyists, journalists and politicians, as they move in and out of government and executive roles in the private sector.
But why badgers?
Until the cull, badgers enjoyed all the benefits of a protected species. Lucrative developments faced delay, or even cancellation, when protected setts were discovered. This angered not only property developers, but the powerful financial interests behind them, who expect a rapid return on investment and a quick turnover of capital.
As a protected species badgers also posed a problem for the shooting industry. Badgers predate both the eggs and chicks (poults) of the ground-nesting bird species bred for blood-sports, presenting a loss to yet another lucrative and politically connected industry.
What about farming?
The situation with farming is more complex. Experts have known for decades that badgers have little or no real impact on rates of bovine TB, and that the main mode of transmission of the disease is between cattle and between herds. This means that the only effective way of tacking the spread of TB is to focus on ‘bio-security’ and controlling cattle movement.
But bio-security is expensive, both in implementation and monitoring, and it imposes costs on agribusiness that neither farmers nor investors wish to pay. Simultaneously the political class is largely opposed to additional ‘regulation’ on ideological principle.
In our view government tried to ‘square the circle’ by finding a convenient scapegoat that could be plausibly blamed for bovine TB transmission, and used as a pretext for delaying costly bio-security arrangements on farms. Each day that big agribusiness can avoid bio-security is a day of extra profits for investors. Big business is focused on immediate returns, not long term sustainability, so the industry doesn’t care who gets the blame, just so long as profits continue to accumulate in the short term. These tendencies are exacerbated by a financial architecture that ensure most equities (and their derivatives) are held for seconds due to high frequency trading.
Badgers are in an analogous position to the social minorities that are routinely blamed for failing economic policies – poor housing, etc. Government knows full well that these groups aren’t responsible for unemployment or poverty, but blaming them takes the pressure off the banks and corporations that benefit from low wages, high rents, deregulation, and monopoly power.
So an iconic species, loved by the British public, has been sacrificed on the altar of political expedience and short term gain. It’s a tragic outcome for our precious badgers, and an insult to our democracy.
What can we do?
There’s still a lot that can be done. Our strongest weapon is the boycott. If we refuse to buy dairy products and move towards a plant based diet, the agri-business industry behind the cull will wither, and the rationale for persecuting badgers will dissipate along with their profits. It’s increasingly easy to adopt a vegan diet, with convenient alternatives available in virtually every coffee shop and supermaket on the high street, so why not give it a go? Going vegan is perhaps the best thing you can do for badgers.
You can also support your local Hunt Sabs. Sabs have had a huge impact in making the cull unenforceable, and have saved thousands of badgers from a cruel death. You can support sabs directly in the field by joining them, or you can simply donate to keep them out doing what they’re doing. Either way, the impact is immense and immediate.
We also suggest you let the NFU know how you feel about the badger cull. If you’re adopting a plant based diet because of their polices, don’t be shy and let them know. Every email sent is another nail in the coffin of the cull.
You can contact the NFU below:
We hope this helps. Love and solidarity. Dorset Hunt Sabs.
