Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

(asked on 29th June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of controlled shootings of badgers on the welfare of that animal population.


Answered by
Steve Double Portrait
Steve Double
This question was answered on 11th July 2022

Reports on the humaneness, safety and effectiveness of badger culling are published annually[1].

The conclusion of the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) for the 2021 season was that the likelihood of suffering in badgers culled by controlled shooting is broadly within the range of those reported for hunting or killing of other terrestrial mammals. This view was supported by Natural England’s Chief Scientist.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bovine-tb-controlling-the-risk-of-bovine-tb-from-badgers#monitoring-and-evaluation

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