Badgers to Benefit from Vaccination Programme
Badgers in Rugby will be amongst the first in Warwickshire to benefit from a pilot vaccination scheme, to be carried out by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust on local nature reserves within the Borough.
The campaign led by Stephen Trotter, Chief Executive of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust and Cllr Noreen New (Paddox ward) was initiated following the decision by DEFRA to cull badgers in England and Wales, in an attempt to stop the spread of Bovine TB amongst cattle.
At last Tuesday's meeting of Full Council; Cllr Mark Williams Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Environment gave a positive response to the question from Cllr Noreen New, which made a request for Warwickshire Wildlife Trust to be given access to Council owned land within the Borough, in order to carry out the Vaccination programme. Cllr New Stated, "This is excellent news for not only the badgers, but animal lovers too. The future looked pretty bleak for badgers following the decision to cull them by the Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman, but the Council agreeing to give WWT the opportunity to carry out the vaccination programme to save badgers and cattle locally, is very reassuring. If you want to save badgers and would like to make a donation towards the vaccination programme, please contact Warwickshire Wildlife Trust". Stephen Trotter Chief Executive of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust said: "This is good news and I welcome Rugby Borough Council's decision and thank all of the Councillors involved. We hope to start the vaccination programme later this year" |