Letter to final two candidates for Britain’s next Prime Minister urges speedy end to badger cull
- Badger Trust Staff Team
- Jul 29, 2022
- 3 min read
Badger Trust joins animal protection NGOs and celebrities calling for a commitment from Sunak and Truss to improve animal protection.
A letter urging a commitment to passing and strengthening more laws to protect animals from cruelty and suffering has been sent to Rishi Sunak MP and Liz Truss MP, the two remaining candidates for Conservative Party leadership and, therefore, Britain’s next Prime Minister.
Signed by leading animal protection NGOs and celebrities, the letter states:
“Animals need a Prime Minister whose government will give them the legal protections they need and deserve, as sentient beings. Will you pledge such protections as part of your leadership campaign?”
Specific commitments requested in the letter are:
Prioritise time to allow the Kept Animals Bill to pass in the current Parliamentary session, delivering on manifesto commitments to end live exports for fattening and slaughter; introduce new laws to tackle low welfare puppy imports and pet abduction; and restrict the keeping of primates as pets, amongst other measures.
Progress legislation to protect the welfare of animals abroad, including bans on imports of hunting trophies, fur and foie gras, and the advertising of low welfare tourism activities overseas, such as elephant rides.
Strengthen existing legislation to: introduce compulsory cat microchipping; phase out use of cages in farming; prevent inhumane trapping and killing of wildlife (e.g. banning snares and expediting an end to the badger cull); support the Life Sciences sector in an accelerated transition to a goal of ending animal experiments; and, crucially, strengthen and extend the current laws on hunting with dogs.
Read the Open letter to Rishi Sunak MP and Liz Truss MP calling for a commitment to improve animal protection.
The badger cull is a failed government policy that needs to end now
Pressure on the government to stop its ongoing badger cull is increasing. As the badger cull enters its tenth year, a recent independent study concludes that badger culling has no impact on bovine TB reduction in cattle.
This rigorous and in-depth examination of government data reinforces other studies and what Badger Trust has long stated – mass badger culling is ineffective in reducing bTB in cattle. Yet successive governments refuse to heed the science and forge ahead with a failed policy, pushing badgers to the edge of extinction in some areas of England.
A double standard for current animal protection law
Although a protected species, badgers are among the most persecuted wild animals in Britain. 30 years on, the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) needs updating to better reflect Britain’s stance on animal cruelty as the world leader in animal welfare law and to avoid a glaring inequality in sentencing for crimes against badgers.
According to current law, even when dogs and badgers are harmed in the same crime, it's a maximum six-month sentence for badger abuse and five years for dog abuse. Lower sentencing for harming badgers compared to harming dogs shows a clear double standard for the welfare of domestic and wild animals.
Badger Trust, as the leading voice for badgers in England and Wales, looks forward to a positive response from the candidates, for the sake of badgers and all animals.
Further information:
The badger cull
Over 176,000 badgers have been killed since the current badger cull began in England in 2013. Badgers are killed in their thousands from Cornwall to Cumbria under misguided and fundamentally flawed attempts to control bovine Tuberculosis (bTB), an infectious respiratory disease which affects cattle.
Badgers are not the problem.
PBA30 Campaign: tougher sentencing to protect badgers
We're marking the 30th anniversary of the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) with a campaign for tougher and more consistent sentencing – PBA30 Act for Badgers.
Together we call on the government to:
Extend the maximum sentence for convictions under the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) from six months to five years, bringing it into line with the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Act 2021. This means offenders would be faced with a five-year sentence for the abuse of a badger, in the same way as they would for the abuse of a dog used in the same crime.
Make badger persecution notifiable to the Home Office, so that the real level of crime can be accurately assessed, reported on, and tackled. At present, wildlife crimes are not recorded in this way and there are no official national statistics. Increasing sentencing would, by default, make a crime under the Protection of Badgers Act (1992) a notifiable offence.
