126 cows slaughtered in Forest of Dean after contracting TB
THE devastating effect of bovine TB was felt by one Forest of Dean farmer after 126 of his cattle were slaughtered.
Jim Hunt, who farms around 700 acres producing milk, beef and crops, at Plusterwine House Farm in Woolaston, saw his herd decimated due to the disease this week.
A total of 27 animals were taken to Ensors in Cinderford on Tuesday for slaughter, while a further 62 cows and calves were shot at the farm last week. This was in addition to the killing of more than 30 animals previously.
It is believed the outbreak of bovine TB has cost his business tens of thousands of pounds.
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A pilot cull of badgers in the county has been given the go-ahead by Natural England in a move which has divided public opinion.
Some believe the action will minimise the spread of TB in cattle, while others challenge there is no scientific evidence to back that up and are vehemently against a cull.
Mr Hunt is for the badger cull and feels the disease needs to be nullified as soon as possible.
Farmer Steve Jones, from The Pludds in the Forest of Dean, who has 35 years of experience managing cattle herds, is anti-cull but agrees the TB disease needs to be addressed urgently – at the very highest level.
He said: “My thoughts are with the farmer, this is simply devastating. There needs to be a Parliamentary debate about TB, and soon. If we get rid of the badgers it will be a bad decision, it will wreak havoc with their population.”
Mr Jones has also questioned the validity of some of the TB tests being done.
He added: “I know of farmers whose cattle have undergone skin tests to identify TB, they have then been slaughtered, and afterwards the tests have returned negative. This needs to be debated quickly.”
Government agency Natural England announced last month it had provisionally licensed trained marksmen to carry out “controlled shooting” of badgers in Gloucestershire.
The cull was announced after campaigners lost a fight in the High Court.
The cull zone covers around 116sq miles of West Gloucestershire countryside and could see at least 3,000 badgers killed.
Meanwhile, an online Government petition against the cull, championed by Queen guitarist Brian May, has grown rapidly with more than 144,000 people signing it in three weeks.
James Wakeley, secretary for the Forest of Dean National Farmers Union (NFU) has echoed Mr Jones’ sentiments regarding the urgency in addressing the disease.
He said: “This is the latest case in a long line of significant losses that local farmers have suffered due to TB.
“It is a complete tragedy for the farm, witnessing the destruction of so many young animals must have been extraordinarily distressing and very brutally demonstrates the problems caused by this disease.
“The scale of loss clearly highlights the desperate need to tackle TB as a matter of urgency wherever it is found.”
The pilot cull will allow farmers to shoot up to 70 per cent of badgers in the designated area. A long-term study has found culling over a number of years on a large scale could reduce the incidence of TB in cattle by 16 per cent.
Comments
by 2ladybugs
Saturday, October 06 2012, 12:18PM
“@Caz123 Fri.11.15 pm and were(sic) is The Shadow (2ladybugs) ....I woz at de ospitaw avin an Xray.
@Tim Messanger ref @Caz123 words of wisdom spoken there, but I doubt anybody will listen. No country has conquered TB without first culling wildlife which is deeply regrettable but a fact; and testing and culling cattle.”
by Caz123
Saturday, October 06 2012, 11:55AM
“Tim,
Are you telling me, Sciences Division, Agri-food and Biosciences Institute are wrong??? Its, the most recent review, I could find, that wasn't the bow report or krebs report!
My! My!
Is this what we are up against folk, people who can't even be bothered, to do any research.
Tim, don't try telling me you do any research, You don't! Now have a nice weekend, no doubt we will meet again my sensitive little flower!!!!”
by TimMessanger
Saturday, October 06 2012, 1:42AM
“@poppyfield the words I used are the definition of someone who will not accept that others have a point of view and their own small minded philosophy is correct.
So the fact that more than 98% of people who have voted against the cull live outside of the GL post code area is not an issue?
@LordGagas have you not heard about veal?
@digby9 you can have you views but don't try and impose them on the rest of us!
@eyeopener why is it working in the republic then?
@Zindafud what kind of child are you?
@Caz123 you my friend have read and UNDERSTOOD so little that you appear more dangerous than an conservative minister!
@the_mogul you might need to goto spec savers where is the grey?
@caz123 the final words are for you, I don't hate people that don't want the cull the people I don't like are those that will not listen to both sides of the argument and are so blinkered they are not willing to accept that the cull is small scale and will prove things one way or the other the other option is to try and vaccinate the badgers (catching them in traps) and the releasing them back into the wild, what will happen to a badger that has TB when it is given the vaccine?
We can't vaccinate the cows as that is against European law. Unfortunately your ideas of how to run a dairy or beef farm are so far off the mark.”
by Caz123
Friday, October 05 2012, 11:15PM
“I'm kicking my heels here, (actually wellies), has anybody got any more practical solutions for farmers, other than, slaughtering animals wild or livestock!! Go for it, join in farmers, its still very cold out here!)
Thank-you, eyeopener and galloping bear for comments, if you think its worth putting up somewhere else, hopefully with more practical animal friendly solutions, go ahead, edit away! But not you Tim:) from the badgerist! badgerist!badgerist! In some strange way I think I've warmed to you;), but not your anti-badgerist views and were is The Shadow (2ladybugs)
Bonzaharris I got stuck at the aubergine bit, It may taste like curry but it will still be an aubergine;) but I quite like growing it and would prefer it, if it did actually grow, or lay eggs, (if you know what I mean):)
Over and out, 'Its been emotional'”
by bonzaharris1
Friday, October 05 2012, 6:33PM
“Caz123m, after watching river cottage veg programme last year, I got the book, really yummy tasty veg recipes, one of my favourites is the aubergine and green bean curry. Its good because the aubergines takes on the curry flavour.”
by Caz123
Friday, October 05 2012, 6:28PM
“Bonzaharris, guess what, I hate most vegetables, not all, but definitely most, and I Have tried to find a recipe that not only looks nice but sounds nice. But I do enjoy growing them, and offing elsewhere. Still, I will struggle on, toast, toast, toast and only white to boot. Terrible. I know”
by bonzaharris1
Friday, October 05 2012, 5:27PM
“Ha ha Caz123, I am not a veggie, though I will happily eat veggie food its as good as meat any day, if you have a good vegtable recipe book that is, which I have. But yes the smell of bacon must be your worst enemy !!”
by Caz123
Friday, October 05 2012, 4:45PM
“To Bonzaharris, Don't do it!!!! That's what happened to me, after being veggie for number of years, Its only recently that I have managed to go veggie again!!!!!!Dastardly bacon, one of the worst temptations for a struggling veggie!!!!I'm sure there must be a bacon anonymous telephone line somewhere. To any sensitive souls, Tim, I am jesting.”
by the_mogul
Friday, October 05 2012, 4:36PM
“@TimMessenger - Have you not considered you resemble a Badger in your profile picture? #justsayin”
by bonzaharris1
Friday, October 05 2012, 3:57PM
“gallopingbear, did you have to mention the smell of bacon, I cannot remember the last time I had a bacon sandwich, and you have now got me drooling at the thought. I have bacon in the freezer too, just need a couple of soft white baps !!”