Badgers will be shot illegally warns trust in plea against culls

A QC for the Badger Trust said proposals for two pilot culls were “very, very controversial” at both the animal welfare level and scientific level.

He argued at London’s High Court the Government decision last December to allow the culls to go ahead was flawed and should be quashed.

Government lawyers say its policy is lawful and reasonable and based on the evidence of scientific experts.

The trust has accused the livestock industry of using badgers as a scapegoat and underestimating the risk of cattle-to-cattle transmission of bovine tuberculosis (bTB).

However the Government argues bTB has now spread to cover large areas of the west and south-west of England, as well as Wales, and badger vaccination is “not a sufficient response to the problem”.

It says in 2010-11 nearly 25,000 cattle were slaughtered in England alone at a cost to the taxpayer of £91m, and the disease is having a devastating impact on livestock farmers.

The court heard Caroline Spelman, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), plans to introduce the initial culls later this year.

David Wolfe QC, appearing for the trust, said that if the courts did not intervene the culls would take place in two areas – one in West Gloucestershire and the other in West Somerset.

Each area was some 350 square kilometres, about the size of the Isle of Wight, and it was estimated 3,800 badgers could eventually be killed in each of four years of culling, said Mr Wolfe.

The scheme could eventually lead to culling in up to 10 areas per year.

The QC told Mr Justice Ouseley: “The decision has been very, very controversial both on the animal welfare level and also the scientific level.”

Nigel Pleming QC, appearing for Defra, said it was planned to issue licences to allow controlled culling in the worst affected areas in England.

He argued the Badger Trust was taking too narrow an approach to the law, and the statutory language relating to “preventing the spread of disease” was broad enough to allowing culling licences to be issued.

The case continues today.