Pembrokeshire badger cull halted after appeal
13 July 2010 - BBC News
A controversial cull of around 1,500 badgers in south-west Wales has been
halted after protesters won their legal challenge to stop it. The
Badger Trust
appealed against Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) plans for a trial cull to reduce TB
within cattle. The
Badger Trust had questioned the cull's effectiveness. Anti-cull protesters argued it had not yet been
scientifically proven that badgers are implicated in the transmission of TB
within cattle and it doubts a cull would help eradicate the disease.
Three judges announced the trust's appeal against a judicial review was
successful and quashed the order.
Lord Justice Pill said the assembly government was wrong to make an order for
the whole of Wales when it consulted on the basis of a Intensive Action Pilot
Area (IAPA) which only supported a cull on evidence within the IAPA. He said if
the order had been confined to the IAPA in north Pembrokeshire, he would have
dismissed the appeal.
The WAG said it was "disappointed" with the Court of Appeal's
judgement. Rural Affairs Minister Elin
Jones (elin.jones@wales.gov.uk) said she would need to
consider the judges' decision in detail before deciding on the next steps.
However, Badger
Trust solicitor
Gwendolyn Morgan said: "The WAG has indicated that they will accept today's decision and will not
appeal to the Supreme Court."
Following the appeal decision, Jeff Hayden from the
Badger Trust, said he
was "relieved with the result. But I have to say there were no winners in the
appeal court today. The disease is still there, animals are still
being culled. There's a real risk now of some farmers taking the law into their
own hands - both sides agree that really is the worst scenario."
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