I Agree with Sammy Wilson!!!!

EC Unique · February 23, 2009, 12:50:48 PM

From BBC.

Quote'Jail badger baiters' says Wilson

A number of raids were carried out on Saturday
People involved in badger baiting should be jailed, Environment Minister Sammy Wilson has said.

Animal welfare workers and police carried out raids at the weekend in County Armagh over allegations of badger baiting. No arrests were made.

Mr Wilson said: "There are laws to protect badgers, but in my view, the sanctions are not strong enough."

The minister said he would be putting forward proposals before the Assembly to strengthen existing legislation.

"In the revisions to the Wildlife Order, I am going to make proposals to have prison sentences handed down to people who engage in this activity," he said.

"Anyone with any sort of humanity about them at all must take this very seriously."

Mr Wilson said he would like to increase co-operation with the authorities in the Republic of Ireland to tackle the problem.

"Whilst we can seize dogs from people's homes in Northern Ireland, they can't be seized in the Republic which leaves a bit of a loophole," he said.

It is understood that a number of dogs were removed from one place during Saturday's raids, which a police spokeswoman said were in response to reports of animal cruelty.

Police were working in partnership with the Ulster Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals.

No-one was arrested and inquiries are continuing.

Cruelty to Animals is one thing that really gets me

Zapatista · February 23, 2009, 01:13:19 PM

There are enough threads on him.

Doogie Browser · February 23, 2009, 01:41:59 PM

Quote from: Zapatista on February 23, 2009, 01:13:19 PM
There are enough threads on him.

Sammy is good at getting rid of his threads.

EC Unique · February 23, 2009, 02:12:59 PM

Quote from: Zapatista on February 23, 2009, 01:13:19 PM
There are enough threads on him.

Not too many where the majority would agree with him but!

Hereiam · February 23, 2009, 02:58:19 PM

Catch a grip E.C. These animals serve no purpose and spread T.B from farm to farm. Kill every last one of them for all I care.

EC Unique · February 23, 2009, 04:07:58 PM

Quote from: Hereiam on February 23, 2009, 02:58:19 PM
Catch a grip E.C. These animals serve no purpose and spread T.B from farm to farm. Kill every last one of them for all I care.

Would not agree at all with 'Kill every last one of them for all I care' but if they are causing trouble there would be a much more civilised way than sending dogs after them (and remember dogs die at this 'sport' as well). A barbaric pass time for barbaric Neanderthals..

delboy · February 23, 2009, 04:46:42 PM

Quote from: Hereiam on February 23, 2009, 02:58:19 PM
Catch a grip E.C. These animals serve no purpose and spread T.B from farm to farm. Kill every last one of them for all I care.

Yeah lets wipe out irelands largest surving carnivore

Intensive modern farming practices are reasonable for TB spread not badgers.

Puckoon · February 23, 2009, 04:54:48 PM

Hereiam - not only is the issue the cruelty of the sport, but here is a report on how even the ethical culling of badgers - does little to prevent the spread of TB.

http://draft.britishecologicalsociety.org/articles/publicaffairs/press/pressreleases/TB2/

Researchers have discovered the most likely reason why localised culling of badgers (Meles meles) has failed to control bovine tuberculosis (TB) in British cattle. Published online by the British Ecological Society's Journal of Applied Ecology, the study reveals that even though culling reduces badger population density, it alters their behaviour in such a way as to increase spread of the disease. The findings have major implications for future strategies to control TB in cattle.

Dr Rosie Woodroffe and colleagues from the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB and the Central Science Laboratory found that, where badger densities had been reduced by culling, territorial organisation was disrupted and badgers travelled more widely. Where culling was widespread, badger densities appear low enough that, despite this increased ranging, cattle herds encounter few badgers.

However, localised culling - similar to that carried out as government policy for more than 20 years - increases movement but reduces density only slightly, so that cattle herds potentially encounter more badgers than in areas without culling. These effects also help to explain new findings on the impact of badger culling on cattle TB to be published on 14 December by the journal Nature.

According to Woodroffe: "We found that badgers in and around areas subject to culling range more widely than those in undisturbed populations, potentially increasing their contact rates both with cattle and other badgers. These results help to explain why badger culling appears to have failed to control cattle TB in the past, and should be taken into account in determining what role, if any, badger culling should play in future control strategies."

Woodroffe and her team used bait marking to assess the impact of culling on badger behaviour and spatial organisation. The study was based 13 of the 30 trial areas enrolled in the Randomised Badger Culling Trial, including Devon, Cornwall, Herefordshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Somerset. By placing bait (peanuts mixed with treacle) containing colour markers (small indigestible plastic beads) at main badger setts for 12 days, and mapping faeces containing the colour markers, the researchers were able to work out how far badgers ranged in culled compared with non-culled areas.

Badger home ranges were consistently larger in culling areas. Moreover, in areas not subjected to culling, home range sizes increased with proximity to the culling area boundary. Patterns of overlap between home ranges were also influenced by culling.

As well as providing a plausible biological mechanism explaining the apparently greater incidence of cattle TB in some areas, it also underscores the importance of ecological research in evidence-based policy making. "These ecological insights are of crucial importance in evaluating badger culling as a TB control measure. Ecological data will also be important in determining whether other management actions, such as badger vaccination or improved cattle controls, might be more effective," Woodroffe says.

Hereiam · February 23, 2009, 05:12:41 PM

I don't understand people who get who go on about cruelty to animals, for gods sake it part of the way the world is. Sure even our own species are cruel to one another. I can tell you this I will not be losing any sleep over this issue.

Puckoon · February 23, 2009, 05:18:08 PM

It may sound hypocrticial - considering I kill animals on a daily basis, but cruelty is unneccessary.

If decreasing the badger population was going to be of any help to farmers, Id support it. But no one with a shred of decency should be accepting of animals being allowed to tear each other limb from limb when there are viable alternatives.

pintsofguinness · February 23, 2009, 06:35:37 PM

Agree with Sammy Wilson, never thought I'd say that.

Like most hunting, a vile "sport" carried out by vile human beings.