Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has conducted trials in gassing of badger sets to control the spread of tuberculosis in cattle.
Research into alternative methods for dealing with the risk of M. bovis from badgers (e.g. sett-based culling methods and non-lethal methods) is underway. This includes investigations into the potential use of gas as a sett-based means of humane culling.
These tests for the potential use of carbon monoxide will not involve badgers.