Use and abuse of badgers

Like statistics, cute-looking animals are a gift to anyone with a political axe to grind.

You can use them to prove any point you like - they won't answer back, or worse still go running to the papers complaining about being used to score political points (always a risk if a politician invokes nurses, or single mothers, or etc, to support an argument).

I've often thought it would be fascinating to study the way the foxhunting debate polarised into a Left vs Right argument, with the welfare of the fox trampled underfoot in the rush to trade insults about privileged toffs and unwashed lentil-munchers.

Sadly I don't have the time, or the government funding, to do that sort of research myself. But... today I discovered that there's a scientist doing exactly that, only with the badger/bTB 'debate'.

I have my elder daughter Emma to thank for the tip-off. As part of her veterinary studies, she attended a lecture by Dr Angela Cassidy, from the University of East Anglia, on the media coverage of the Badger 'controversy' in the UK press.

You can download a pdf of one of Dr Cassidy's earlier talks here (This link may show the document in preview form, if I've got it right). It makes fascinating reading.

She appears to find that the badger issue polarises people into rural vs. urban, left-wing vs. right-wing. Discussion tends to focus on culling rather than disease and its control. There is strong evidence of lobbying creating coverage in the media at key moments, such as in the lead-up to the General Election. And new scientific evidence tends to cause arguments about the science itself - the protagonists entrench their positions and argue about the validity of the science, rather than taking the opportunity to reconsider the best course of action.

There's also an interesting section on the use of imagery by different groups - cute n cuddly badgers by one side, vicious snarly badgers by the other. And she looks at the presentation of the badger as 'good' and 'bad' by groups with different perspectives over the years, going back through Tommy Brock and his ilk to the days long before badgers were associated with disease.

It's hard not to find yourself drawn in, even reading Dr Cassidy's work, and ask yourself "Is she pro or anti?" That's kind of beside the point. Her work is a valuable insight into the way something that should be a straightforward, practical debate gets hijacked, and becomes the focus for a much deeper disagreement between groups with opposing agendas; and the media tricks both sides resort to in their attempt to win the day... while the cattle, the farmers, and the badgers, continue to suffer.

This isn't the first time animals have been used this way, and it certainly won't be the last. We would do well to understand the phenomenon.

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They've all gone badger bonkers

It's badger madness in the media. As the deadlines for consultations approach in England and Wales, everyone from Brian May and George Monbiot to the Badger Trust and the RSPCA is offering their opinion - and doing their best to whip up a storm of indignation at the impending 'senseless slaughter' (May) by 'bloody-minded dolts' (Monbiot).

As you try to make sense of all the hysterical outpourings, here are a few simple facts to keep in mind:

• There is no such thing as "badger baiting." People do not catch badgers and set up organised fights, in the manner of cockfighting or dogfighting (which do exist). It's a fiction put about by animal rights groups to smear anyone in favour of culling.
• 'Perturbation' is what happens when you make a half-hearted, incompetent effort to cull badgers. That is what was proved by the RBCT, nothing more or less. It tells us nothing about what might happen if a cull is planned and executed properly.
• The ISG report is fundamentally flawed, because it is based on a false assumption: that the source of TB infection in cattle is split precisely into thirds: 1/3 from cattle movement, 1/3 from cattle-to-cattle within the herd, and 1/3 from badgers. This is demonstrably false, and contradicts studies carried out before, during and after the ISG's work.
• An infected badger becomes a 'super excreter', spewing millions of bacteria everywhere it goes, particularly in its urine. The disease works very differently in cattle, which do not produce infective material in anything like the same way - in fact it is virtually impossible to detect the disease in the urine, snot, etc of infected cattle (otherwise we wouldn't need to use such unsatisfactory tests to detect it).
• Vaccination of badgers is not a viable solution, for many reasons - in particular, it's pointless vaccinating already infected badgers, which in TB hotspots are the majority.

 
We almost beat bovine TB back in the 80s, with a robust policy of cattle testing and gassing badgers. Even the 'clean ring' policy held things in check. But as the political climate turned, badger protectionism grew - and bTB spiralled out of control.

This is not rocket science. We could wipe out bTB in a few years if government had the cojones to go back to gassing setts of infected badgers, together with a strict and effective policy of cattle testing and movement control. Sadly, thanks to the efforts of May, Monbiot, RSPCA and the rest, that will be politically impossible - we will end up with a half-arsed policy, condemning thousands of cattle, and badgers, to an unpleasant death for years to come. And they claim to be the ones who care about animal welfare!

Interesting video here...

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At last, people who know what they're talking about

I spent a fascinating day at a symposium entitled 'Wildlife management and zoonotic infections', organised by the Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management, at the Royal Society of Medicine in London.

How refreshing to listen to people who a) Know what they're talking about, and b) Approach the subject objectively rather than spouting the first emotive nonsense that enters their heads.

Speakers included Dr Harriet Auty from Glasgow Veterinary School, Vic Simpson FRCVS, Dr Andy Paterson from DEFRA's wildlife health team, Dr Anna Meredith, head of the exotic animal & wildlife service at Royal Dick, Edinburgh, John Chitty MRCVS, Dr John Gallagher, Christianne Glossop the Chief Veterinary Officer for Wales, Lord Mancroft, and Stephen Lomax, barrister and MRCVS. An impressive line-up indeed - and in addition we heard from Jonathan Reynolds and Mike Swan of the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust.

There was so much to absorb that I'm still taking it all in. There are several speakers who raised issues that I want to follow up and cover in depth, but there just wasn't time in this packed day to grab anyone for even a quick interview.

As a taster, though, here are a few of the scribbled notes I made during the day:

• Echinococcosis - carried by foxes, infects humans, incubation period 5-15yrs, mortality >90%, now in Belgium and heading our way at 3km/year.
• Toxicara - low risk to public, but doesn't half sell a lot of worming products!
• Hedgehogs - numbers down 44% in the last 25 years and no-one has a clue why.
• "There is no welfare issue in death"
• Defra is currently working on a Risk Assessment for wild deer - what's that all about?
• Wildlife 'hospitals' - no regulation, poor records, serious welfare questions. "Less about animal welfare and more about making people feel good". Great fundraising tool.
• Most common admission to wildlife hospitals is the feral pigeon. 2nd is hedgehog.
• Most injured wildlife should be culled on the spot. Rehabilitation rates appallingly low.
• When does a wildlife 'hospital' become a 'sanctuary'; legally, is it a zoo?
• ISG report on Bovine TB is 'the dodgy dossier'. Based on fundamentally flawed assumption. Figures actually prove majority of cattle infections come from badgers.
• In Wales, it is possible to get your TB reactor cattle illegally 'laundered', at a price.
• Brian May shook Christianne Glossop's hand and said he was a scientist!!! Offered to tell her how to solve the TB problem.
• Important to respond to TWO badger consultations - DEFRA and Wales.
• RSPB can't fund a full time warden for xyz reserve but staff on hand 24/7 when the peregrines hatch on the cathedral; how much funding does each generate?
• Natural England head of biodiversity says major benefit of reintroductions is 'engaging the public'. Driving past dormouse wood makes him feel great. Oh FFS!
• What's all this about 'semi-official' reintroductons of beavers in England??? Technically captive but there have been 'escapes' - illegal if deliberate. What about diseases carried by those beavers (the diseases aren't captive).
• There is no such thing as 'Badger Baiting'. It's a fiction perpetuated by LACS, RSPCA to support their badger campaigning.
• RSPCA: "Prosecution is Education".
• Britain's rarest mammal: the black rat. Why no reintroduction programme?
• Scandinavian research tested badgers' reaction to terriers in sett (heart rate, cortisol levels, etc). Result: not bothered in the slightest - less reaction than when play-fighting.

See - I said it was fascinating didn't I! Expect to see some of those develeloped into stories on here or in the magazine in due course.

On thing that did cross my mind: with people of this standard readily available, why does the BBC call on bunny-huggers like Brian May when they want to inform their viewers about wildlife issues? There really is no excuse. It's either incredibly incompetent journalism, dumbing down to the level of lowest common denominator, or a deliberate attempt to mislead. Whichever it is, it's time the BBC Trust intervened. Licence fee payers deserve better.

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Badger badger badger

Hark at the wailing and teeth gnashing and hand wringing as the animal welfare industry rattles its collecting tins at fluffy-minded idiots.

The proposed badger cull provides the perfect case study of how this industry operates, deploying the full range of emotional blackmail, trickery, misuse of science, fake concern and downright lying. Douglas Batchelor of the League Against Cruel Sports excels himself with a blog post that manages to combine all these, and even suggests it's a plot to boost foxhunting.

My favourite bit is the deliciously sarcastic comment at the foot by Mo Young: "As always Douglas I highly commend you on your lucidity and clarity in explaining this matter." This at the end of 1,250 rambling words with a FOG index of 15.5.

Ex Queen guitarist Brian May, who appears to be regressing back through his childhood, has written a load of soppy nonsense in the Guardian, accusing farmers and Defra officials alike of an "insatiable lust" to "take revenge" on badgers. Someone at the Guardian should be prosecuted for cruelty for allowing May to make such an arse of himself in public.

Trust a Devon farmer to come up with some good oldfashioned common sense:

"I'm writing ahead of what will be the usual barrage by the pro-badger lobby. I am a dairy farmer from Devon that operates a closed herd (that is for those that don't know - we don't introduce any animals on to the farm) We also have excellent boundary fences and high hedges which very much limits interaction between our stock and that of our neighbours.

In the past we suffered badly with TB and had multiple breakdowns over a period of time. This was during a period when MAFF were trapping and culling badgers on infected farms. 80 percent of the badgers trapped on our farm where diagnosed with TB at post mortem, once they had been removed - big surprise, so was our TB problem.

We currently have badgers on the farm and they have been there for a number of years now. I have no doubt that they are free from TB and therefore would have no plans to cull them.

Those that live and work in the countryside know that wildlife along with all the other factors has an important role to play in the spread of this terrible disease, and whilst succesive ministers have passed rules and regulations that address cattle to cattle transfer, at last we have one with the balls to address the wildlife problem. Congratulations to Jim Paice for a bit of common sense, it's a rare quality in a politician."

Hat-tip to the Bovine TB blog for that one - an excellent blog and well worth a read if you want facts not histrionics.

And if you're reading up around the subject, Geoffrey Lean posted a good summary of the situation here on his Telegraph blog.

Mad mad world

What's going on? The Royal Society for the Promotion of Raptors is accused of gross mismanagement of one of its reserves. The Royal Society for the Intimidation of Pensioners has a bloke arrested and led off in handcuffs for killing a pest. (Sorry but I just can't take seriously any animal organisation that depicts a badger like this:)

Now it appears Britain is over-run with giant rats - and it's all the EU's fault.

The bonkers Douglas Batchelor of the League Against Posh People is offering the government advice on firearms control.

In other news, spokesmen from BASC and Countryside Alliance had a friendly discussion about who is doing the best job of protecting the interests of the shooting community:



Yes, the silly season is truly upon us. So I'm off to the Isle of Skye where I will be shooting, fishing, hillwalking, sailing and generally having a good time - mostly beyond the reach of mobile phones, internet, email and all that. Updates will be few and far between.

Oh, and don't even think about robbing the house while I'm away. My daughter's rugby-playing boyfriend will rip your limbs off.

Badgers and piglets

Had a call from a farmer at the weekend - he's losing piglets to... foxes? Or what? We walked around the field (in rain and a freezing wind!) looking for clues. There was little sign of foxes, but I did find some unmistakeable badger tracks. Looks like they're pushing under his 8-strand electric fence. I reckon they're mostly after the pig feed, but perhaps the odd one gets a taste for fresh piglet. Have any readers come across a similar problem? Any suggestions how he could (legally) deal with the pesky badgers?