Daniel Kawczynski MP calls for an urgent badger cull in Shropshire
An urgent badger cull is needed in Shropshire to tackle the 'devastation' caused by bovine TB after more than 9,000 cattle were slaughtered in the county in the last five years, Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski said today.
The Tory has written to fellow Shropshire MP and Environment Secretary Owen Paterson asking him to move the county up the priority list for culling.
The Government has given the green light to two pilot culls of badgers, which can spread the disease to cattle, in Somerset and Gloucestershire this summer.
Mr Kawczynski said, if the trials were successful, Shropshire should be at the top of list for the Government when it comes to choosing the next areas for a cull.
But the idea is being opposed by the Shropshire Wildlife Trust, which is calling for targeted badger vaccination programmes to act as a 'firebreak' to stop the spread of the disease.
Mr Kawczynski made the comments after figures from Defra last week showed the number of new incidents reported in the county in 2012 rose by 16.4 per cent last year – more than three times the national average of 5.5 per cent.
There were 354 new incidents in Shropshire last year, compared with 304 in 2011.
But the overall number of animals being killed fell, from 2,357 to 1,974 during 2012.
Mr Kawczynski said: "Shropshire is one of the worst affected counties, with this causing misery to thousands of farmers.
"What I'm saying to Owen Paterson is when these trials are finished, one of the first areas should be Shropshire. If the trial is successful, it is imperative that licences are issued in Shropshire."
He said that while the issue was controversial, there did not appear to be a readily-available alternative.
"I would be happy to take an alternative measure but the vaccine is not ready. We have been promised the vaccine every year – over the last 15 years we have been told the vaccine is just round the corner.
"The only course of action left is this limited cull of badgers. TB has had a catastrophic economic impact on Shropshire of untold proportions. In 1997, 47 cows were culled in Shropshire. Last year, it was more than 1,900.
"It is an extremely difficult and controversial decision. However, if this is not tackled as matter of priority we will see more farmers going out of business."
Helen Trotman for Shropshire Wildlife Trust, said: "We believe strategic use of badger vaccination could play a significant role in creating a firebreak against bovine TB."
In 2011, figures from DairyCo revealed the number of dairy farmers in Shropshire had almost halved over a decade.
The number of dairy farms fell from 766 in 2002 to just 452 by June 2011.
At the time, the National Farmers' Union in Shropshire said the reasons for the drop included 'the problems caused by bovine tuberculosis'.
