Caroline Spelman, the British secretary of state for environment, intends to kill roughly 100,000 badgers in an attempt to prevent cases of tuberculosis infections in the country's cattle population.
Apparently, her decision is based on the fact that in 2010 alone farmers had no choice but to sacrifice nearly 25,000 cattle that suffered from said disease.
Raw Story informs us that the Badger Trust organization, whose main goal is that of promoting the conservation of said animals and of their natural habitat, means to argue that killing the badgers is neither legal, nor sure to rid the country of tuberculosis infections.
The same source reports that Jeff Hayden, a representative of the aforementioned organization, made it clear that “We are challenging this on legal and science grounds. We are neither bunny huggers nor violent activists, and we really don't think it will help reduce TB in cattle.”
On the other side, members of Caroline Spelman's stand by their decision and argue that, as long as certain species belonging to England's wildlife are carriers of tuberculosis infections, it is virtually impossible to keep the cattle safe without first dealing with these animals.
Thus, as far as they are concerned, what should come first is making sure that farmers and rural communities are by no means threatened by potential TB outbreaks.
As well as this, they argue that financial considerations also hint towards the fact that killing the badgers is a necessity, as tuberculosis infections are likely to amount to losses of approximately £1bilion over (roughly $1,5 billion / €1,2 billion ) the next 10 years.
From where we stand, perhaps it would be best for the British government to invest in a badger vaccination campaign, rather than resort to such drastic measures.
Via: Conservationists Outraged as UK Government Plans to Kill 100,000 Badgers
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar