To Cull or Not to Cull

So the government has decided to go ahead with the badger cull.

Alright, I can see why some people might not like these creatures, especially the urban variety that is highly destructive of peoples gardens and other such property.  I, myself, could see the point if they said that, as we now have about 290,000 badgers running loose in the UK and they are now being forced out of the countryside and into the cities were they are a pest, they were going to trap and cull the urban badger.  If nothing else it is probably a mercy on the badgers as all animal surveys that study the urban populations say that the urban variety suffer from more diseases than their country cousins due to their association with humans.  What does that say about humans.

But no, apparently they are going to cull them out in the countryside because they spread TB.  At least that is what the head government vet said so that is what everybody is expected to believe.  Rather like the report of weapons of mass non-existence, I mean destruction, out in Iraq.

And that's rather the point as to why the badger has become such a point of passionate protest for so many people.  There is no correlation between badger population and bovine TB, despite what some farmers think.  Scotland has a widespread badger population and is virtually TB free.  Northern Ireland has numerous badgers but no TB cases in their cattle. Why is this?  Because Scotland and Ireland still have yearly TB vaccines for their cattle, whereas in Britain the cattle have a yearly TB test and if that flags up positive then the cow is destroyed.  In short Scotland and Ireland still run by the maxim 'prevention is better than cure' and it shows.

When people protest against the badger cull, they are not so much protesting against the culling of badgers as protesting against the ignorant mind set that is behind it.  If the government had used the argument that the urban badger was a danger to children and pets and therefore had to go then fair enough.  Badgers aren't meant to live in a city anyway .  But it is because the government tries to fob it off with a phony excuse that people get mad.  We are not stupid and we object to being treated like it.

The only thing is if badgers must be culled because they spread TB to cattle, when are cattle going to be culled because they spread TB to humans?