Animal welfare groups have reacted with fury to government plans to extend a controversial badger cull to Dorset despite inconclusive results in two trial areas in Gloucestershire and Somerset.
Marksmen have failed to meet targets for the numbers of badgers to be killed, making it difficult to assess whether a cull could help to reduce cases of bovine tuberculosis. Last year 26,000 cattle had to be destroyed after testing positive for the disease, which many farmers believe is spread by badgers.
Animal rights activists, including the rock guitarist Brian May, claim that the evidence against badgers is vague and there are more effective ways of dealing with bovine TB, including vaccination.
Despite the failure to meet targets, Natural England issued licences in the trial areas yesterday for a third year and approved the start of a cull in Dorset. More than 600 badgers will be shot in the county during a six-week period this year.
George Eustice, the farming minister, insisted that “strong action” was needed to eradicate the disease. He said: “England has the highest incidence of TB in Europe, and that is why we are taking strong action to eradicate the disease and protect the future of our dairy and beef industries.
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“This includes strengthening cattle testing and movement controls, vaccinating badgers in the buffer zone around high-risk areas, and culling badgers where the disease is rife.”
Meurig Raymond, president of the National Farmers Union, called for culling to be allowed in more areas. He said: “This is much slower progress than we wanted to see. We know there are many areas where the disease is rife that would benefit from badger culling and where farmers are prepared to play their part in the fight against bovine TB.”
May, who is head of the Save Me campaign, said that he would seek a judicial review of the decision to issue the licences, adding: “We are all hugely disappointed that the government has decided to continue, despite Natural England’s scientific adviser branding the badger cull ‘an epic failure’.”
Dominic Dyer, chief executive of the Badger Trust, said that the pilot schemes had comprehensively failed to demonstrate that the cull was effective.
Last year 274 badgers were culled in Gloucestershire, far fewer than 615 estimated to be needed to deliver a cut in bovine TB. The government blamed the low numbers on action by anti-cull activists. In Somerset marksmen just met their target, shooting 341 animals.
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The Humane Society criticised the decision to expand the cull into Dorset. Claire Bass, the executive director, said: “Both science and experience show that pilot culls in Somerset and Gloucester have been an unmitigated disaster, so rolling this failed policy out to another area in England defies belief.”