Badger Trust Cymru today described the decision to kill badgers in  Wales to control bovine TB as the start of a "brutal pogrom",  following an announcement by Elin Jones, Minister for Rural Affairs.

The Badger Trust for the UK as a whole said it was an "abhorrent  decision".

Steve Clark, spokesman for Badger Trust Cymru, commented:  "This  decision marks the start of a brutal pogrom against badgers.

"Elin Jones has ignored the weight of scientific opinion and caved  in to bullying farming unions and cull-mad vets.

 "By combining badger culling with other TB control measures, Elin  Jones will have no idea which particular measure reduces the disease.

"But any resulting fall in bovine TB will inevitably be attributed to badger culling, spelling doom for badgers across both Wales and the UK as pressure mounts to repeat this brutal extermination elsewhere."

David Williams, chairman of the Badger Trust for the UK as a whole, commented:

"To slaughter badgers in Wales when, in England, trials of a vaccine for badgers are about to get underway, is a truly abhorrent decision.

"The evidence is clear that cattle spread bovine TB, with recent reports from the National Audit Offices in both England and Northern Ireland confirming that bovine TB testing is inadequately enforced and  delivered.

"These problems also exist in Wales, but rather than putting farming in order, Elin Jones has decided to make a scapegoat of badgers instead. This is cheap, nasty politics of the very worst kind."

The Badger Trust has vowed to examine the decision in detail and consult with its legal advisors over whether it can be subject to a Judicial Review.  Mr Williams added: "We will look at every legal means possible to stop this cull going ahead."

24.3.09