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Wrongly blamed for the spread of bovine tuberculosis … butchered on Britain’s roads … victims of the cruel practice of badger baiting … there’s no denying that times are hard for the British badger.


Bob, from Cornwall Badger Rescue has had a difficult winter out on the road rescuing badgers from all manner of bad situations.  In the past we’ve brought you tales of happy badger cubs; rescued, weaned and released back into the wild…but the reality of life as an animal rescuer means you experience far more of the bad times than the good.

“I’ve seen all sorts this winter,” Bob explains, “I rescued two cubs last fortnight but they wouldn't stop having fits and had to be put down.  There’s another cub in the house and adult in the barn doing fine.”  Bob’s daily battle is getting to the animals in time and hoping that they’re in a good enough condition for him to have a positive impact on them. 

As if the threat of a cull wasn’t enough to concern animal lovers everywhere, Bob says he’s increasingly involved in assisting police with criminal cases involving badgers.  There have been recent incidences of snares with fishing hooks being found in the countryside designed to capture live animals for badger baiting - in these events badgers often having their backs broken and are helpless as they are torn to pieces by dogs.

It’s not just criminals capturing badgers to torture them; Bob was recently called to a case where he found just the skin of the badger remaining… the rest had been taken away almost certainly for human consumption. 

The other great danger for badgers is the construction industry.  He routinely tangles with building contractors who have ploughed through badger setts causing disruption, death and injuries.  When confronted, they simply claim they didn’t know badgers were living there. 

Thankfully the police have been proactive in cracking down on crimes against badgers and seek the expert advice of people like Bob, while reminding the public to keep an eye out for setts and reporting violations.  Bob has begun appearing on radio to comment on the plight of badgers in the West Country, highlighting the problems he faces.

The job of rescuing animals stretches far beyond the typical 9-5 day and can involve seeing some of the worst treatment of creatures imaginable.  Network for Animals is proud to help fund Bob’s vital work in the countryside battling on the front line of badger rescue.

The Stroud 100 are a group based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, who are mobilising opposition to try and prevent a badger cull on local land.  The founders, Nick and Jeanne Berry, have worked tirelessly to collect members of the public, local celebrities and the town council together in a unified group to stop the cull.  We got in touch with them to hear their story and see if the model of opposition they created could possibily be replicated in other regions where culling is set to take place.  What follows is a guide they produced outlining their background, their objectives and their methods for gathering support for their cause.

Why we wanted to get involved
We’re very privileged to live in a beautiful part of Stroud in Gloucestershire surrounded by nature and wildlife including deer, squirrels and badgers. We like all animals but we became particularly fond of the badgers because over several years we even had a badger coming into our house through our cat flap whenever the weather meant food was short. He’d steal anything from a Christmas pudding to a sack of carrots from our back porch.

When we heard about the proposed badger cull as a means of stopping the spread of TB in cattle we were horrified to think that badgers could be shot on or near to our land. We both felt concerned about the disease in cattle but we couldn’t stand by and do nothing so we started to research the issues to see what we could do.

Stroud is a vibrant and compassionate market town and is always engaged in topical issues of the day. As a result we went to a public meeting looking at the issues of TB in cattle, its causes and how it is spread and could be controlled. One of the speakers was a recently retired government research scientist who has spent his life looking at the way badgers live and their role in the spread of TB in cattle.  Hearing him was the springboard to our plans as he convinced us that the science just doesn’t add up and that a cull would make matters worse.

What we wanted to achieve
We started in November before the pilot cull sites were announced. Having read the DEFRA guidance we decided that if we could succeed in getting large numbers of local landowners signed up across the Stroud District it would make it a logistical nightmare for any cull to go ahead locally as each and every objector with land must be kept outside of the cull. We knew that the guidance talked about having at least a 70% sign up for any cull to go ahead but we felt that if we could get together enough names of landowners and people with badgers in their gardens to sign up it would just become too difficult and unpopular for the District to become part of the cull.

Our initial 2 objectives were to protect badgers in our own area and if it looked like our idea had merit then to encourage others in other towns to set up similar groups. We’ve made good progress on the fist point but have not made any progress in getting others to set up similar groups yet although we remain hopeful.

What we did
We decided we would sign up both landowners, ie those with more than a ¼ acre of land and also those who had badgers going through their garden. This covered both the groups of landowners we most needed but also got other local people involved where they had direct links with badger.

We started by contacting our very well respected local Wildlife Trust who had been actively involved in vaccinating badgers on their land. After some consideration they agreed a form of words to offer their support without actively backing our campaign. This proved invaluable in getting wildlife fans who were initially  uncertain on who to support. We then contacted as many neighbours, friends and likely supporters who we felt met the criteria. This was followed by letters to our local papers. All this was quite hard work but only brought in a handful of supporters. Fortunately a young supporter had spotted our correspondence in the local papers and put together a blogspot for us so that we could use weblinks rather than attachments when we emailed people. This proved a great boon and along with a Facebook page this really helped us communicate with people both locally and nationally.

Other things we’ve done to find supporters:
• Made contact with local badger groups and their supporters
• Issued lots of press releases to our local papers and agreed to do follow up with a couple of national papers
• Written letters to very local parish magazines, one of which resulted in our local author Jilly Cooper, signing up
• Regularly updated our Blogspot and Facebook pages
• Found out how much land our District, Town and Parish Councils own, manage or control and then written to them asking them to seek to pass a motion of support for the Stroud 100, refusing to allow any culling on their land
• Contacted local celebrities asking them to join. This resulted in our local football club lending us their badger suit which is their mascot!
• Dressed in a badger suit on market day in the town centre and touted for supporters
• Gone door to door in areas where we thought people had land attached to their houses
• Made “cold” telephone calls to people who others have suggested might become supporters

We do hope that you will set up a similar group in your town, especially if you live in the proposed pilot cull areas. We’d be happy to chat and help you get started.

Visit the Stroud 100 website to get involved. 
 

We're getting some postcards relating to the Hunting Act 2004 printed up next week and will have them available to pick up at events around the country and by order from our office. 

David Cameron has stated that he intends to give the House of Commons the opportunity to vote on the repeal of the Hunting Act during this parliamentary session and we are keen to demonstrate that there is widespread public opposition to these moves.  Although the Act is not a perfect piece of legislation, it has been proven to work in a number of cases since its introduction and it represents the committment of the British people to eradicating unneccesary cruelty to animals in our countryside.  We have to stand and be heard: We do not want the Hunting Act repealed. 





Back the Ban!

After reading the compelling story of Kabang, the heroic dog in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines, who saved two children from being run over by a motorcycle but suffered horrific injuries as a consequence, our team in the Philippines offered to lend a hand in her rehabilitation…But the curious tale of Kabang started several months earlier.

The Bunggal family had a history of keeping dogs, but not in the way one might imagine.  Most of the dogs that came through their home were destined for the dinner table and the family had a reputation amongst neighbours for their predilection for dog meat.  However there was something about the puppy Rudy Bunggal found in a swamp one day that led him to make an exception and keep this one as the family pet.  Once she joined them at their home, the bond that developed between Kabang and their daughter, Dina, and niece, Princess, meant eating her was simply not an option. 

Over time Kabang became a key member of the family unit, providing protection against intruders, helping Rudy with his work and delivering endless joy to the children who would play, eat and sleep with their beloved pet.  Their neighbour, Ricky Llorente, reported to a local newspaper that Rudy “…became a different person when Kabang came. He became humane to animals.”

One day in December last year the girls were walking along a roadside, unaware that a speeding motorcycle was careening towards them.  Kabang leapt to their aid by jumping into the path of the motorcycle, protecting the girls from harm but suffering extensive damage to her snout in the process. Rudy told a local newspaper that the incident was Kabang’s way of repaying the Bunggals for saving her.  

Upon hearing this tale of heroism we paid for a veterinary surgeon to travel to Zamboanga City to treat Kabang.  He advised that while she was stable and coping, a maxillo facial reconstructive surgery is called for. The Animal Welfare Coalition, a local group we are partnered with, has subsequently requested help from the vet school at the University of California at Davis and preparations are under way to bring Kabang back to health.  However, we have just heard that Kabang is pregnant, so the surgery will have to wait until her pups are born!