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.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on agriculture, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cA 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 \u2013 the bacteria that causes bTB.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the widespread culling of badgers, the number of TB reactors on farms continues to rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly, it is devastating for farmers and their families, as well as rural communities, when TB hits a herd. However, the figures show that the eradication practices in place at the moment are simply not working.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government are failing the agriculture sector by continuing to pretend that badgers are the problem and not coming up with a plan that is based on scientific evidence. They need to follow the example of countries like Scotland, which has been TB free since 2009.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Scotland, official government advice is that wildlife does not present a risk to cattle. Instead of culling badgers, they use strict biosecurity measures to maintain their status.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy continuing to focus on the culling of badgers as one of the primary means to control TB, the government is leaving vulnerable farming communities exposed to the threat of this devastating disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile I will be raising this issue in the D\u00e1il this evening with Biodiversity Minister Christopher O\u2019Sullivan, I am also calling on the Minister for Agriculture to come up with a TB eradication plan that does not involve the cruel and unnecessary culling of badgers.\u201d<\/p>\n
May 21, 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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\u2019s spokesperson on agriculture, said: \u201cA recent investigation by the Journal found that of the 10,301 badgers culled in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11668,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[410,582,517,268,7,516],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-animal-welfare","category-biodiversity","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release","category-wildlife"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n