Alick Simmons spent most of his career in public service serving as the UK Food Standards Agency’s Veterinary Director (2004-2007) and the UK Government’s Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer (2007-2015). He is the current chair of the Zoological Society of London’s Ethics Committee on Animal Research and a member of the Wild Animal Welfare Committee. He…
Tag: badger
Twelfth Night wildlife round up
Opinions differ as to how and when one ‘should’ take down Christmas decorations, just as they do about how and when one should take down Venezuelan presidents. But on the former I stick to the Twelfth Night rule which gives me an opportunity to have a look at all the Christmas cards that have arrived….
Dear Mr Reed, 2 – Badgers
Dear Steve Reed, in just over three weeks time you may well be Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. If so, that will give you great opportunities to make the world a better place and that must be an exciting prospect. However, one hot potato will be firmly on your desk –…
Guest blog – Badger killing: is there a better way? Alick Simmons
Alick Simmons is a veterinarian, naturalist and photographer. He lives in Somerset. He has written seven previous guest blogs here – click here. His Twitter handle: @alicksimmons One element of the government’s 2013-2038 strategy – click here – to eliminate bovine tuberculosis (bTB) from the cattle herd (in England) is widespread, officially-sanctioned, privately-funded badger killing….
Guest blog – How a suppressed BTO report became published as a ‘joint’ BTO/NE study by Dominic Woodfield
Dominic Woodfield is the Managing Director of Bioscan, a long established and well-respected consultancy specialising in applied ecology. He is a life-long birder, a specialist in botany, habitat restoration and creation and in protected fauna including bats, herpetofauna and other species. He is also a highly experienced practitioner in Environmental Impact Assessment and Habitats…
Another letter to my MP – on Badgers
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Dear Mr Pursglove, Thank you for your replies to my two earlier letters on birds of prey and Badgers. I’m grateful to you for taking the time and for such full respones – see my blog. This letter is also about Badgers and follows the Westminster Hall debate on the subject at the end of…
Wild Justice Badger challenge in Northern Ireland
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Last week the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs announced details of its planned Badger cull. This week Wild Justice and the Northern Ireland Badger Group filed papers in the Royal Courts of Justice seeking permission for judicial review of that decision. Wild Justice, which is meeting all the costs of the…
Is free-shooting of Badgers humane?
This afternoon the Wild Justice petition calling for an end to Badger shooting will be ‘debated’ in Westminster Hall by backbench MPs and will receive statements from Shadow and actual DEFRA ministers. No doubt the debate will wander all over the place with MPs spouting quite a lot of nonsense that makes them look foolish…
New scientific paper on whether Badger culls work or not
On Friday a new scientific analysis of the effectiveness of Badger culls on reducing bovine tuberculosis in cattle was published. I knew this paper was coming and knew that it would be greeted with acclaim by those who oppose the cull and derision by those who support it, and that has largely been true. The…
Wild Justice Badger crowdfunder
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Wild Justice is raising money to challenge the lawfulness of a proposed cull of Badgers in Northern Ireland. We’ve got together with the Northern Ireland Badger Group. At nearly £24k in 10 days that’s pretty good going, and there is more cash arriving every day that we can transfer across, but there’s still a long…