"Badgers lose Court of Appeal legal battle"

From the BBC:

Badgers have lost a legal battle at the Court of Appeal against being culled. The Badgers' Association had accused the government of letting the latest pilot culls go ahead without an independent expert panel (IEP).

At a special late night session, the two badgers who had survived the journey from the West Country out of the seven who set off, asked three judges to rule there was a "legitimate expectation" that the expert monitors would be put in place.

But Lord Justice Davis, Lord Justice Christopher Clarke and Lord Justice Bean dismissed their case. They backed an earlier decision by the High Court that ministers had not broken rules in permitting a cull without scrutiny by an independent scientific panel.

The badgers were then taken out into the courtyard and shot,

Cow news

From The Daily Mail:

Badger culling plays only a ‘minor role’ in helping to control the spread of TB in cattle, a study has claimed.

Researchers from the University of Warwick analysed cases of the disease, looking at incidents on British farms dating back to the 1990s.

The study, published in the journal Nature, found that transmission of TB from badgers to cows plays only a ‘relatively minor role’ in the spread of the problem.

The research also claimed that killing every cow in a herd once the disease has been detected, as Britain did in the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis, would be an effective method of stemming the rise of bovine tuberculosis.

However this would involve slaughtering 640,000 cows in the first year alone – a policy the paper calls ‘extreme’ and ‘draconian’.

Seems like the obvious solution to me, seeing as badger culls don't work.

Headline Of The Week: "Kelly Brook's boyfriend crashed van of dead BADGERS during controversial cull"

It's got every element a newspaper story needs.

"Pilot badger culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire approved"

From the BBC:

After years of lobbying by the British Airline Pilots Association, culls of pilot badgers are set to go ahead later this year after final licence conditions were met, Transport Minister Owen Paterson has said.

The pilot badger culls, in and around airfields in Gloucestershire and West Somerset, were postponed amid fears they could not be carried out effectively last autumn. Ministers want to hold a pilot badger cull to enhance passenger safety on domestic flights. The RSPCA, which opposes the cull, said it wanted to help fund better training for the primarily nocturnal aviators.

Mr Paterson confirmed the cull at the Civil Aviation Authority's annual conference. He also announced that reserve pilot badgers will be culled in Dorset. Under the plans, the furry flyers will be shot if seen anywhere in the vicinity of an airport without first being trapped in cages, which is current practice. Pilot badgers are easily identified by their smart dark blue blazers with matching peaked caps, usually adorned with quasi-military gold braid.

The International Maritime Pilots' Association has called for the cull to be extended to pilot badgers plying their trade on river ferries and at UK harbours.

Animal Victimhood Poker

Spotted by Dick Puddlecote, this is brilliant.

These people are sort of thinking about campaigning against the badger cull, but they're not actually sure one way or another whose side they're on - cow or badger. They went on the safe side and called it the "No to badger campaign", which is delightfully ambiguous - is it the campaign which says "no" to badgers, or are they saying no to the "badger campaign" [i.e. cull]?

So please pop over to their Fun Online Poll and help them make up their minds.

"Benn confirms TB cull rejection"

Madness indeed:

In a Commons statement, the environment secretary said that while a large-scale cull could improve the situation, it could also make the problem worse... About 4,000 herds were affected by the disease last year, mainly in the south-west of England. The government based its decision on advice from the Independent Scientific Group, established to commission and review research on the issue. The ISG concluded that culling would not be an economic solution to the problem, although a subsequent analysis led by the government's former chief scientific advisor Sir David King came down in favour of culling.

Yes, of course it "could" make things worse, but the gummint had no problems in ordering a cull of four million animals in response to the 2001 foot and mouth outbreak. And who's to say whether the badger cull would be "economic"; some quangocrats or the farmers - the people who have to balance the cost of the loss of business with the cost of the cull?

Badger cull (2)

Whoops, sorry chaps.

Put away your rifles with night sights, your cooking pots and your shaving kits. And your wattle and daub. There's not going to be a cull after all.

No reason not to gas this bastard though.

Badger cull

If farmers really reckon that culling badgers will help reduce TB in cattle, then so be it. The argument has been rumbling for years and I suppose the only way forward is to give it a try and see what happens.

But don't forget to do this one as well.