Public come out in numbers to protest Gloucestershire badger cull

Members of the public and the media descended on parts of rural Gloucestershire following the confirmation by police that badger culling was scheduled to commence in the county, a week after shooting began in Somerset.

Humane Society International/UK's Director Mark Jones, who is a vet and Gloucestershire resident, was accompanied by around 40 people who took part in Wounded Badger Patrols yesterday evening and well into the night.

The patrols consist of volunteers who walk the country lanes and public footpaths to bear witness to any shooting and report/assist any wounded badgers they may find. Although the patrols did not directly witness any shooting last night, there were several sightings of vehicles and lights being used in the proximity of known badger setts, and the police were out in force.

Mark Jones said: "We are deeply saddened that this unjustified and unscientific badger cull has now come to Gloucestershire. The Secretary of State Mr Paterson was quoted yesterday as saying that ‘everything is going according to plan’. But what we hear from the ground in Somerset is talk of chaos, confusion and carnage. I have no doubt that many thousands of badgers are now set to suffer in the county I call home, for the sake of a policy that has no scientific basis, will at best make a marginal difference to TB in cattle, and which could very well make things worse.

“I was proud to join last night’s Wounded Badger Patrol. These are ordinary, law-abiding people who are concerned at what’s going on in their countryside, and wish to express their concern by legal and peaceful means. In doing so, they represent the concerns of many thousands of ordinary folk across the west country and beyond. The Gloucestershire and West Mercia police were also out in force, and while they were civil and friendly, they did insist on filming us as we were going about our business, which seemed entirely unnecessary and made some people feel uncomfortable.”

Killing a badger cleanly with a rifle or shot gun in the pitch dark, is extremely difficult and the chances of inflicting non-lethal injuries is high.

"Badgers could very well sustain excruciatingly painful bullet wounds, and those who retreat underground will die a slow and agonising death. Their suffering is made all the more unpalatable by the fact that this cull is going ahead despite having no scientific credibility and contributing little to reducing cattle TB in this country."