The Badger Trust welcomes the news that Peter Black AM has laid a motion before the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) calling for the annulment of the Badger (Control Area) (Wales) Order 2011. It will be debated and a vote taken next Wednesday (23rd March).
The Trust emphasises that Welsh voters have only a very short time left to make their views known to Assembly Members on the proposed destruction of over a thousand badgers in the Intensive Action Area of Pembrokeshire. The Order has been rushed through before the WAG is dissolved on 31st March 2011 in preparation for the Welsh Assembly elections on 5th May.
In taking her decision Elin Jones, the Rural Affairs Minister, has now effectively ignored the verdict of a second public consultation forced on her last year by the Court of Appeal – but at the taxpayer’s expense.
Crucially, four times as many respondents came out against the destruction of wildlife as did not.
The Badger Trust accuses the Welsh Assembly Government of a shameful lack of openness in how the results of the consultation have been presented to the public. In announcing her decision to “authorise the destruction of badgers” in Pembrokeshire Ms Jones omitted even a summary of the figures.
She said only that the evidence she had considered “included” consideration of the 13,431 responses but she gave no details. These are buried in an online “representative summary” of the responses [1]. The full results can be seen only on request by contacting the Assembly Library and Publication Services [2].
David Williams, Chairman of the Badger Trust, said: “It is appalling to have a Minister being less than candid about important – and for her inconvenient – information. I am hardly surprised these results have been pushed into the background considering the obvious public concern about the destruction of badgers. Ms Jones’s action betrays a craven desire to placate a noisy and blinkered lobby within the farming industry”.
WELSH CONSULTATION:
Questions and responses in brief:
(Each of the asterisked figures could be increased by 1,114, which is the number of postcards from members of Vegetarians International Voice for Animals. The cards did not directly answer questions but contained a view on some of the topics).
Do you object to the culling of any wildlife for the purposes of controlling disease in farm animals? If yes, please explain why?
YES 9,762; NO 2,328; (4.2 to 1)
In view of the fact that a licence for an injectable vaccine for badgers is now available, do you think that vaccination of badgers in bovine TB endemic areas is a viable alternative to culling to prevent disease transmission? If yes, please explain why?
YES 5,016*; NO 2.111; (2.4 to 1)
Do you believe that culling badgers can achieve a reduction in bovine TB incidence in cattle, to justify its use? If no, please explain why?
NO 5,035*; YES 2,110; (2.4 to 1)
Do you agree that the Intensive Action Area has a high incidence of bovine TB in cattle which needs to be dealt with? If no, please explain why?
YES 6,900; NO 182; (38 to 1)
Do you believe that access to land for culling badgers should be enforced? If not, why not? Please give reasons for your answer.
NO 5,037*; YES 2,085; (2.4 to 1)
On balance, do you think the benefits of culling outweigh the harm caused to the badger population in the Intensive Action Area? Please give reasons for your answer. Would you include other factors in the balance of harm and benefits? If so why?
NO 5049; YES 2,067; (2.4 to1)
Do you agree with the prohibitions [2] under the draft Badger (Control Area) (Wales) Order 2010? If not, why not?
NO 4,995; YES 2,094; (2.4 to 1)
* 1,114 Viva postcards not included.