Who is trusted to ensure we comply with international animal welfare and conservation agreements?
The answer is shocking.
Since 2013, the UK government has killed over 210,000 English badgers through the badger cull, contrary to scientific evidence that badger culling should not play a leading role in reducing bTB in cattle. As part of this programme, the government must carefully record the badger population in cull areas to avoid local extinction events and comply with international animal welfare and conservation agreements.
However, through a series of Freedom of Information requests that Badger Trust has made to Defra, APHA and Natural England, we can reveal that, astonishingly, the cull companies that kill badgers are the same organisations responsible for ensuring badgers don’t face local extinction.
