Dear friends,

The government’s consultation on expanding the badger cull ends midnight Monday May 13.  We wanted to remind you of how much is at stake. The picture above shows what targeted culling might mean for Oxfordshire. Over half of our mainly rural county is already in the killing zones (orange areas). Culling is also taking place in the neighbouring counties. Only badgers in the green areas are safe. Two  ‘clusters’ of new herd bovine TB outbreaks were identified in 2021. If the ‘targeted culling policy’ is approved we fear that licences will be issued to allow culling of ALL badgers in the areas shown in red.

Oxford University, ‘birthplace of badger culling’ is at the heart of the cruel and ineffective mass  slaughter of  a much loved, native mammal.

The Badger Trust have just released their response to government. In it they highlight how DEFRA has misrepresented both the conclusions of Oxford Universities original Randomised Badger Culling Trial, AND the conclusions of it's own recent research (Birch 2024).  We need Oxford’s scientists to call DEFRA out over the misuse of their work and the incredibly flimsy scientific justification given for expanding the cull.

Oxfordshire Badger Group will NEVER stop campaigning to end the cull.  Your support for this petition means so much to us. Pease sign and share. If you have time, do read what the Badger Trust has to say and add your voice (however little you say) in response to  the consultation.

In hope, Eileen, Julia, Linda and Richard (Trustees, Oxfordshire Badger Group)