THE founder of a Leatherhead-based charity has spoken out against the culling of badgers.
Simon Cowell, founder of the Wildlife Aid Foundation and presenter of the TV series Wildlife SOS, has said he was "extremely dismayed" that the government had decided to go ahead with the badger cull in selective areas.
Mr Cowell, who runs the wildlife hospital in Randalls Road, believes the government has a "very weak case for culling and there is such strong opposition to it".
He continued: "The cull will have little if any effect on the spread of TB in cattle and there is considerable scientific evidence that it would be counter-productive and could actually increase the spread of the disease."
He added that the latest figures from DEFRA, the government's department for the environment, showed that the incidence of TB in cattle had fallen by 20 per cent without a cull, and this was due to cattle testing and tighter control of cattle movement.
"It is frankly appalling," Mr Cowell continued. "That government ministers can proceed with this scheme despite the huge amount of public opposition to the cull.
"If other measures, such as tighter testing and movement control for cattle, are working and are bringing the rate of TB down, then that is clearly the way to go.
"Why kill badgers? Badgers are a very special part of Britain's rich wildlife heritage.
"And they are supposed to be a protected species. Yet this protection seems to have been cast aside for the duration of this cull.
"The prime minister should ponder on whether he really wants his government to be remembered in years to come as the one that spent millions of pounds of taxpayers' money on slaughtering thousands of badgers and reducing the nation's biodiversity in a vain attempt to save diseased cattle."
The Wildlife Aid Foundation deals with some 20,000 wildlife emergencies every year, many of them involving badgers.
"We spend all our time working to save the lives of sick, injured and orphaned wild animals, and to give them a second chance," said Mr Cowell.
"And now the Government comes along and pronounces a death sentence on thousands of these beautiful creatures. Where is the sense in this?"
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