Badger Cull 2022 Investigation
This shocking footage exposes the badger cull for the sham that it is. A cruel, costly and ineffective mass slaughter of tens of thousands of badgers and for what?
Dead badgers tipped into an open-air skip, operators with no regard for potential biohazards, unbagged gutted carcasses left inside a van, reckless and careless handling of supposedly disease-ridden animals.
Midway through the 2022 badger cull, Protect the Wild released shocking undercover footage of badgers being carelessly handled and stored at Grafton pet crematorium in Northamptonshire.
The videos taken in September and early October show the grotesque reality of the badger cull. A cull in which the government claims to only licence operators with the highest biosecurity measures in place.
Throughout the undercover recordings at Grafton Pet Crematorium, Northamptonshire, there is a blatant and consistent disregard for potential biohazards and spread of disease. We would not be at all surprised if these scenes of recklessness and non-adherence to important regulations are commonplace across the UK.
We want to see the end of the badger cull.
The science isn’t there to back up claims that culling these mammals will stamp out bTB in dairy cows. Indeed, if these animals are diseased, why is such blatant disregard being shown to government regulations? The cull needs to end. Badgers are not to blame.”
Regulations on handling badger carcasses – which are termed Category 1 animal by-products, or ABPs – are clear and concise. Badger carcasses are classed as high risk.
Any material from them (urine/faeces/blood etc) may contain TB and provide a source of infection that humans or animals could contract.
Footage shows gutted badgers in a van and blood pooling on floor.
Generally, loading and unloading of ABPs must be done inside, in a covered area, operators must pay particular attention to health and safety issues to avoid possible aerosol transmission of bacteria and other potential hazards such as ticks or other parasites.
Footage shows operators debagging badgers while not wearing any masks.
Carcasses should be stored in a leak-proof container within a vermin-proof building. Carcasses must not be stored outdoors or where scavengers such as foxes, dogs or rats could have access to them.
Footage shows operators tipping unbagged badgers into an open air skip.
And finally, if you want to use different categories of ABPs on one site, you must keep unprocessed ABPs in category-specific rooms, divided by floor-to-ceiling walls or partition.
Footage shows dead badgers mixed with fallen livestock such as horses and sheep.
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