Brian May leads badger cull march as legal challenge looms

Animal rights campaigners are preparing a fresh legal challenge in an attempt to stop the badger cull.

Rock star and Queen guitarist said a judicial review to challenge the legality of the culls would be launched within days.

Dr May confirmed the development at a mock funeral procession on Tuesday (8 September), held in memory of 2,263 badgers killed in the government’s pilot culls last year.

See also: Farmer fury as Defra blocks badger cull in two counties

The procession made its way from Defra’s headquarters in Smith Square, London, at noon to Old Palace Yard in Westminster, about 30 minutes later.

More than 100 anti-cull activists joined in the demo, organised by Team Badger, a coalition of groups and organisations, which aims to stop the cull.

© Mark Thomas/Rex Shuttersock

Defra announced last Friday (4 September) that the third year of badger culling, as part of a package of measures aimed at eradicating bovine TB, has started in Gloucestershire and Somerset and in a third county, Dorset.

A glum-looking Dr May told reporters he was “outraged” that the government had decided to go ahead with the culls, which he claimed had “already failed”.

There was a mixed reaction to the protest on Twitter.

Brian May’s #TeamBadger loons fail to grasp that the public would rather have healthy milk in shops rather than diseased badgers in fields

— Marcher Lord (@MarcherLord1) September 8, 2015

Things you don’t see every day. Just passed Brian May & a funeral hearse for Team Badger, outside DEFRA. pic.twitter.com/JeFFt7L05X

— Richard Chapman (@SelsdonChapman) September 8, 2015

Government scientists insist that badgers are a host of Mycobacterium bovis – the bacteria which causes bovine TB.

The NFU pointed out that almost 33,000 cattle were slaughtered as a result of TB in the UK last year, costing the taxpayer more than £100m.

An NFU spokesman said: “Last year nearly 33,000 cattle were slaughtered because of bovine TB and more than 4,700 cattle herds that had previously been clear of the disease were affected by it.

“Previous trials have shown badger culling can have a positive impact on reducing levels of TB in cattle in areas where the disease is rife”
NFU spokesman

“We need to do everything we can to tackle this disease and that includes culling badgers in areas where the disease is endemic.

“Previous trials have shown badger culling can have a positive impact on reducing levels of TB in cattle in areas where the disease is rife.

“No one has ever said culling badgers alone will eradicate bovine TB.

“That is why the NFU continues to call for the government’s 25-year TB eradication strategy – the first comprehensive plan we have ever had to control and eradicate bovine TB in England – to be implemented in full as quickly as possible.”