Shame on the Irish Farmers Association for pushing for a continuation of the cruel culling of badgers.

The Department of Agriculture's badger cull - previously slammed as "slaughter masquerading as science" - is responsible for the snaring and killing of an estimated 120,000 badgers to-date.

The Farm Ireland section of the Irish Independent has reported that the IFA is insisting that "any new [TB eradication] strategy must...continue culling of badgers and deer where necessary."

"A war of words has erupted between the IFA and the Department of Agriculture on the TB eradication programme," the Independent report outlines. "The IFA last week questioned the Department of Agriculture's commitment to the programme and claimed that farmers had lost patience with the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed, and with the Department."

The Department of Agriculture revealed that "€82.6m was spent on the TB eradication programme last year and that €1 billion will be spent between now and 2030 as part of a major drive to eradicate the disease".

A past study in the UK found that the impact of a large scale badger cull, has "relatively little effect" on TB. In 2015, research here dramatically revealed that, contrary to Department of Agriculture claims, badgers actually avoid cattle. The Wicklow N11 Badger Study was conducted by the Department of Agriculture and the National Parks and Wildlife Service themselves (along with a team from Trinity College Dublin).

Speaking on RTE's "Living the Wildlife" programme, Department of Agriculture Veterinary Inspector Teresa Mac White outlined that part of the study involved 40 badgers sending back 31,000 locations via attached GPS-enabled collars.

"What showed up was consistently, all the badgers avoided going in to farm yards," Ms Mac White stated. "If they did go in to a yard, it was more likely to be a horse yard or a disused yard. They all consistently avoided going in to yards on cattle farms. That was a most unexpected finding."

She went on to say: "Badgers will actively avoid going in to fields where there are cattle. So when they go out on their nightly wanderings and they find there are cattle in a field, they'll divert off somewhere else. And even if that's one of their preferred foraging areas, they'll still decide to avoid it."

The Department of Agriculture's shameful badger cull (which takes place under licence from the National Parks and Wildlife Service) causes terrible suffering to this supposedly protected species.

Bernie Barrett of Badger Watch Ireland outlines the cruelty of the cull: "The method of capture is a barbaric wire snare which holds the helpless badger in excruciating pain until it is dispatched by gunshot. That’s provided the animal has not agonisingly strangled itself beforehand. When nursing female badgers are snared and shot, their cubs are left to starve to death underground."

According to the Irish Wildlife Trust, 6,000 Department of Agriculture snares are set in Ireland every night and there are fears that the species is now endangered. The IWT is opposed to the badger cull and states on its website: "Badgers can die over extended periods struggling in these hideous devices while their young starve underground. Not only is it barbaric and unethical, recent findings have shown it to be ineffective in the war on bovine TB. Nobody has ever counted badgers accurately in this country and while it has always been assumed that they are common animals, this can no longer be taken for granted."

Read the full Irish Independent article at
https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/agri-business/farm-leaders-and-department-lock-horns-on-tb-eradication-37233682.html

ACTION ALERTS

Please appeal to the Agriculture Minister to show compassion and suspend the cruel badger snaring scheme. Remind the Minister that the badger is a protected species in Ireland and that the Animal Health and Welfare Act, for which he is responsible, clearly states: "A person shall not do, or fail to do, anything or cause or permit anything to be done to an animal that causes unnecessary suffering to, or endanger the health or welfare of, an animal". Tell him that research has shown that "badger culling apparently has the capacity to increase badger-to-badger transmission of infection, potentially undermining anticipated reductions in badger-to-cattle transmission."

Minister Michael Creed
Minister for Agriculture
Department of Agriculture
Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Email: michael.creed@oir.ie
Tel: +353 (0)1-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510.
Fax: +353 (0)1-661 1013.
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelcreedtd
Tweet to: @creedcnw

Please write to the Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs and to the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Remind them that the Wildlife Act, for which they are responsible, lists the badger as a protected species. Demand that they stop licensing the snaring and killing of thousands of badgers as part of a cruel and discredited TB eradication scheme.

Minister Josepha Madigan
Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht
Phone: +353 (0)1 631 3800
Email: josepha.madigan@oireachtas.ie
Leave a comment on Facebook: https://facebook.com/JosephaMadiganFG
Tweet to: @josephamadigan

Director, Licensing Unit
National Parks and Wildlife Service
7 Ely Place, Dublin 2
Email: wildlifelicence@ahg.gov.ie
Tel: +353 (0)1-888 3214