* Defra's TB Advisory Group Appointed

**from: http://www.uksafari.com/badgertb2.htm*

Members of Defra's TB Advisory Group have now been appointed by the
Chief Veterinary Officer, Debby Reynolds. Once again it's not looking
good for the badger. The Chairman, Peter Jinman, was appointed by
Ministers in July 2006. The group will advise on practical control
policies in England, working with interested organisations to take
account of wider views and help promote a shared understanding.

DEFRA state in their press release "We have recruited a small number of
members with different backgrounds and interests to ensure a balance of
experience across farming, veterinary, conservation and welfare issues.
Members are: Brian Jennings (beef farmer), Bill Madders (dairy farmer),
James Kirkwood (veterinary scientist with animal welfare expertise,
Universities Federation for Animal Welfare) and Andrew Cunningham
(scientist with wildlife conservation expertise, Institute of Zoology).
The group will seek advice and input from others as necessary."

However The Badger Trust have expressed alarm that chief vet Dr Debby
Reynolds has given pro-badger culling activists a majority on the
Advisory Group.

The Badger Trust revealed in September that the Group's chairman, Peter
Jinman, had signed the British Veterinary Association up to a National
Farmers Union badger culling agenda in 2003. Now, Dr. Reynolds has
appointed dairy farmer Bill Madders and beef farmer Brian Jennings, both
of whom have demanded badger killing to control bovine TB. Only five
weeks ago, Bill Madders was a signatory to the NFU's latest demand for
badger culling over vast areas. And Brian Jennings, former chairman of
the NFU's animal health committee, made repeated demands for badger
culling from 1998 to 2003.

The other two members of the TB Advisory Group are Dr James Kirkwood and
Andrew Cunningham.

Dr Kirkwood is chief executive and chief scientific advisor of the
Universities Fund for Animal Welfare and the Humane Slaughter
Association. He chaired Defra's Independent Working Group on Snares,
which estimated that 1,300-2,300 badgers were caught annually in fox
snares, of which 575 died. The Group produced a new code of practice for
snaring, but badgers continue to be found in snares with dreadful
injuries and Defra is believed to have killed badgers whilst testing
body snares as a means to cull badgers.

Mr Cunningham is head of wildlife epidemiology at the Institute of
Zoology and worked with the RSPB and others to identify the cause of
mass vulture deaths in India. The birds were being poisoned by
diclofenac, a painkiller for cattle. Thanks to his work, the Indian
Government has prohibited the chemical.

Badger Trust spokesman Trevor Lawson commented: "If Ben Bradshaw does
decide to slaughter badgers, this Group has a majority that might well
be prepared to rubber stamp the killing. Three out of five members have
demanded badger killing and Bill Madders has lent his name to a NFU
proposal that would lead to the extermination of badgers across at least
25,000 square kilometres of England. In fact, the only member of the
panel who has not sanctioned wildlife culling in one form or another is
Andrew Cunningham. The Badger Trust is very alarmed by the structure of
this Group: Britain's badgers have never been in greater danger."

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