The Committee will consider its response to the following public petition:

‘We the undersigned petition the Council to Save the Shropshire Badgers from being culled.

This is a national issue which will be of direct concern to the people of Shropshire when DEFRA "rolls out" its culling policy in 2014. The object of the petition is to ensure that Shropshire's badger population is as safe as possible from slaughter and that the already available injectable badger vaccine against bovine TB is used in as many cases as possible. We ask this because we believe the culling policy is inhumane (DEFRA's measurement of "humaneness" is to time the screams of wounded badgers), inefficient (previous culls showed an increase in bovine TB because of badger movement) and unscientific (the majority of scientific opinion hold that a cull will have "no meaningful result").

We, the undersigned, call on Shropshire Council to prohibit the culling of badgers on council-owned land and invest in vaccination programmes locally. We ask this because we believe culling to be inhumane, inefficient and unscientific’.

This ePetition ran from 5 December 2013 to 6 May 2014 and was signed by 465 people.

The Officer report is attached as item 8.

The Committee considered its response to the following public petition:

This is a national issue which will be of direct concern to the people of Shropshire when DEFRA "rolls out" its culling policy in 2014. The object of the petition is to ensure that Shropshire's badger population is as safe as possible from slaughter and that the already available injectable badger vaccine against bovine TB is used in as many cases as possible. We ask this because we believe the culling policy is inhumane (DEFRA's measurement of "humaneness" is to time the screams of wounded badgers), inefficient (previous culls showed an increase in bovine TB because of badger movement) and unscientific (the majority of scientific opinion hold that a cull will have "no meaningful result").

We, the undersigned, call on Shropshire Council to prohibit the culling of badgers on council-owned land and invest in vaccination programmes locally. We ask this because we believe culling to be inhumane, inefficient and unscientific’.

It was noted that this ePetition had run from 5 December 2013 to 6 May 2014 and had been signed by 465 people.

Mrs Michele Vaughan presented the petition on behalf of the Shropshire Badger Group.  A copy of her introductory comment is included as part of the formal record of this meeting.  Members noted that the Group were now seeking either financial or ‘in principle’ support for its scheme offering free badger vaccination to six farms in Shropshire at a cost of approximately £8,000.

Members fully debated the issues raised and held some differing points of view.  A Member considered that, as there was no planned badger cull in Shropshire at this time, a decision on the content of the petition was unnecessary.

Responding to Members’ queries, the petitioner, Mrs Vaughan, explained that badgers could be trapped and vaccinated rather than trapped and culled.  She stressed that proper measures, bio security, to counter bovine TB was the answer rather than culling the animals, she added that badger numbers were exaggerated.

A Member commented that the counter argument from landowners/farmers etc. should be sought before making any decision on this issue.  He stated that the petition only presented one point of view.

The Committee Chairman added that vaccination of badgers could only be carried out on land with the landowner’s consent and added that most of Shropshire Council’s own farms were agricultural rather than livestock.  The petitioner re-iterated that the Shropshire Badger Group was standing the whole cost of the vaccination programme on six identified farms in Shropshire and the Council was being asked only for its ‘in principle’ support of the vaccination programme.

The Committee Vice Chairman agreed that every tool in the box should be used to combat bovine TB and it was an important issue to discuss.  However he believed that it was premature to single out Council owned livestock farms.

Another Member added that, given the inefficacy of the Government’s culling trials and the inconsistency of data following vaccination, the private vaccination process as described by the petitioner should be supported in principle at the current time.  The majority considered that ‘in principle’ support should be given to Shropshire Badger Group’s local initiative of a six farm vaccination programme.

RESOLVED

i)             That, should the Government consider it necessary to extend the badger cull in to Shropshire, the Council will consider its position at that time in the light of the latest information;

ii)            That it be agreed that, at this point in time, it would be premature for the Council to consider its position ahead of a formal decision and before it has had an opportunity to evaluate the latest evidence in support of any proposal regarding a badger cull in Shropshire; and

iii)           That, in the interim, ‘in principle’ support be given to the Shropshire Badger Group’s local, trial vaccination programme as described by the petitioner on behalf of the Group and wholly funded by that organisation.