Over 80% of badgers culled in government TB programme found to be free from the disease

Over 80% of badgers culled in government TB programme found to be free from the disease

More than 8,000 badgers destroyed by DAFM in a nation-wide crackdown to eradicate bovine tuberculosis were found to be infection free following post-mortems.

New plan needed to eradicate bovine tuberculosis that does not involve badger cull

Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore has called on the Minister for Agriculture to come up with an eradication plan for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) that does not involve the culling of badgers. Deputy Whitmore, who is the party’s spokesperson on agriculture, said: “A recent investigation by the Journal found that of the 10,301 badgers culled in the last five years, 80 per cent of them (8,211) were found to be clear of mycobacterium bovis – the ba…