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Posted: 22nd May 2014
Badger Trust's legal challenge of the culls is not supported by BVA
The BVA has said it will not support the Badger Trust in its recent legal challenge of the badger culls.
This week the Badger Trust announced it had applied for a judicial review at the High Court to challenge the legality of the culls.
BVA says it is concerned that its policy on the culls has been misrepresented in the Badger Trust's news release this week.
The association says it has not withdrawn its support for the culls as part of the overall strategy to eradicate bovine TB. Instead it says it can only support further culling in the pilot areas if certain conditions are met.
Following last year's pilot culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire, controlled shooting of badgers is set to begin again this year.
Badger Trust CEO Dominic Dyer claims Defra has "unlawfully" decided to continue culling in Somerset and Gloucestershire without an independent panel to monitor the operations.
An independent expert panel (IEP) monitoring last year's culls recently revealed they failed on both humaneness and effectiveness.
Mr Dyer said is it "not acceptable" for Defra's secretary of state Owen Paterson to "push aside the concerns" of the IEP and BVA and continue culling in the pilot areas without independent monitoring. He called on the BVA to support its legal challenge.
However, BVA president Robin Hargreaves has since written to the trust to clarify it will not be supporting the legal challenge.
A policy agreed on April 16 states that the BVA could only support further culling using controlled shooting methods if steps were taken to improve the humaneness and effectiveness of the culls. It also insists on a non-governmental body to monitor the culls.
BVA says it has been in dialogue with Defra since this policy was agreed and discussions are still ongoing.
Until BVA Council has received Defra's plan and considered it in full, the association says it will not be taking a further position.
BVA policy on badger culling: http://www.bva.co.uk/public/documents/BVA-badger-culling-policy-position-2014.pdf
Badger Trust's legal challenge: http://www.nfbg.org.uk/_Attachments/Resources/1083_S4.pdf
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