This is Dorset -- CLAIMS Sherborne has been identified as a reserve badger cull zone if case pilot schemes in other counties are jeopardised have been dismissed by the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs. The plans were introduced to tackle bovine tuberculosis, a disease which infects cattle. They propose controlled shooting of badgers, which are thought to be carriers of the disease, with high-velocity rifles. Badger cull pilots will take place in Somerset and Gloucestershire, but activist group Stop the Cull has released maps purporting to reveal two designated cull zones. These include Sherborne and surrounding villages as well as the wider part of West Dorset. Group spokesman Jay Tiernan claimed the Sherborne zone could be used as a fall-back if the pilots this autumn fall through. Mr Tiernan said Stop the Cull compiled the maps by talking to more than 40 farmers to verify the locations. But a spokesman for Defra said: "There is no truth in this story. As we have previously announced, one area in Dorset is being prepared as a reserve should unforeseen circumstances prevent the badger cull pilots taking place in Somerset and Gloucestershire. "Exact locations have not and will not be revealed for security reasons." Sherborne teenager Olivia Darling-Finan, 15, who previously won praise from TV wildlife experts for creating an anti-badger cull website, is urging people to sign an anti-cull Government E-Petition. She said: "I would be shocked and disappointed if the cull took place in Dorset. "I believe these plans are being kept quiet. I think this is unfair and dishonest. People deserve to know what could be happening on their doorstep."
Reported by This is 10 hours ago.
This is Dorset -- CLAIMS Sherborne has been identified as a reserve badger cull zone if case pilot schemes in other counties are jeopardised have been dismissed by the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs. The plans were introduced to tackle bovine tuberculosis, a disease which infects cattle. They propose controlled shooting of badgers, which are thought to be carriers of the disease, with high-velocity rifles. Badger cull pilots will take place in Somerset and Gloucestershire, but activist group Stop the Cull has released maps purporting to reveal two designated cull zones. These include Sherborne and surrounding villages as well as the wider part of West Dorset. Group spokesman Jay Tiernan claimed the Sherborne zone could be used as a fall-back if the pilots this autumn fall through. Mr Tiernan said Stop the Cull compiled the maps by talking to more than 40 farmers to verify the locations. But a spokesman for Defra said: "There is no truth in this story. As we have previously announced, one area in Dorset is being prepared as a reserve should unforeseen circumstances prevent the badger cull pilots taking place in Somerset and Gloucestershire. "Exact locations have not and will not be revealed for security reasons." Sherborne teenager Olivia Darling-Finan, 15, who previously won praise from TV wildlife experts for creating an anti-badger cull website, is urging people to sign an anti-cull Government E-Petition. She said: "I would be shocked and disappointed if the cull took place in Dorset. "I believe these plans are being kept quiet. I think this is unfair and dishonest. People deserve to know what could be happening on their doorstep."
Reported by This is 10 hours ago.