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Petitions opposing a badger cull in NI have been tabled at the Stormont Assembly and will be forwarded to Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots.
The first, presented on Monday by North Down MLA Alex Easton was signed by 3,606 people, “mostly from the constituency of North Down”, the former DUP MLA told the Assembly.
He said that he favoured badger vaccination as opposed to a cull, claiming that 80% of badgers in NI are free of the disease and culls in England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland have proven to be totally unsuccessful. These countries have now realised “they have made a big mistake with the culling of badgers and that the vaccination programme is the way to go,” he said.
On Tuesday, Alliance Party South Antrim MLA John Blair presented another badger cull petition, this time with 10,529 signatures.
Co-ordinated by the USPCA, Ulster Wildlife and the NI Badger Group, the petition also received the endorsement of celebrity conservationist Chris Packham who encouraged his 485,000 followers on social media to sign up.
In his statement on Tuesday, Blair said that he was disappointed that DAERA had not proposed using the Test and Vaccinate or Remove (TVR) approach.
“The huge response shows the strength of feeling on the issue. The suggestion of needless slaughter of healthy badgers is contrary to public opinion, and the petition is clear evidence of that,” added Blair.
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