Trust welcomes cattle passport scheme

November 29, 2011

29th November 2011

The Badger Trust warmly welcomes the Welsh Government’s decision to implement nationally a voluntary scheme for cattle passports to record when animals were last TB tested for bovine tuberculosis [1]. North Wales farmers have already been attaching special stickers to passports in a one-year pilot programme.
Peredur Hughes of the Caernarfon Regional TB Eradication Board said the stickers had become an invaluable tool for the farming industry. “It is a quick and efficient way to identify when cattle have been TB tested, whether going through the mart or sold from farm to farm”, he said.
David Williams, chairman of the Badger Trust, commented: “We welcome this essential move to reduce cattle-to-cattle infection, although the Trust urges the Welsh Government to make the scheme obligatory. The pilot trial has shown that this simple, inexpensive idea — which we suggested in 2000 [2] — works, and we urge the Welsh Government to think again as this scheme should have been made compulsory long ago”.
NOTES:
[1] http://www.newswales.co.uk/?section=Agriculture&F=1&id=23231
[2] Press release by the National Federation of Badger Groups (now the Badger Trust), July 12th, 2000
CONTACT:
Jack Reedy
01564 783129
0775 173 1107
Badger Trust is the only charity dedicated to the conservation of badgers throughout England, Wales and all Ireland.
PO Box 708, EAST GRINSTEAD, RH19 2WN
Tel: 08458 287878 Fax: 02380 233896
E-mail press@badgertrust.org.uk
www.badgertrust.org.uk
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Learn About Badgers!
A badger sett is a system of tunnels and nesting chambers lined with bedding such as grass, moss and leaves.
Cubs are normally born in February, and the average number in a litter is three, although the range can be from one to five.
Badgers are considered omnivorous, although their diet varies so much in different countries they are also sometimes termed ‘local specialists’.
Badgers live mainly in woods and copses in extensive underground burrow systems called setts.
Badgers are shy, nocturnal animals that live in underground chambers connected by a network of tunnels known as a sett.
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Snares can do serious damage to skin tissue which is not immediately obvious.
Badger cubs begin to explore above ground in May, sometimes without mum’s permission!
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