Leeds badger group wants ‘cruel and ineffective’ cull scrapped
A Leeds wildlife group has strongly criticised the continuation of England’s badger cull, saying it is “cruel, ineffective and utterly unbelievable” that it is still taking place more than a decade after it began.
The Leeds and District Badger Group, founded in 2015, argues that the cull not only fails to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle but also risks pushing badger populations to dangerously low levels.
The cull was first introduced in 2013 with the aim of reducing bTB transmission between badgers and cattle. Under the policy, which has continued under both Conservative and Labour governments, licensed contractors are permitted to shoot and kill badgers across designated areas of England.
Affiliated with the national wildlife charity Badger Trust, the Leeds and District Badger Group is calling for the immediate termination of the cull.
The group’s Elizabeth Preece said: “Badger Trust and our group believe the cull should end now, not ‘by the end of Parliament’, which could mean as late as 2029. The real solution lies in cattle management: tighter controls on movement, better testing, and stronger biosecurity measures.”
Since the cull first began, an estimated 247,880 badgers have been killed – roughly half of the UK’s entire badger population.
For Elizabeth, this number shows that the cull has “devastating” effects. “It’s unbelievable – we like to think we’re a nation of animal lovers, yet this continues,” she said. “Most people don’t even realise that badgers have been slaughtered on government orders for over a decade. In some areas, so many have been killed that none can even be found to cull. It’s heartbreaking.”
In October, Parliament debated the future of the badger cull after a petition by wildlife group Protect the Wild surpassed 102,000 signatures, when the Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to ending the cull.