Badger Cull Demo in Bath - 27/10/12

Following demonstrations elsewhere in the UK, including several recent demos in Bristol, a group of anti- badger cull activists staged two demonstrations in Bath City Centre today against supermarkets selling milk from the cull areas.

Despite the cull not going ahead this year, and a vote in parliament in which the cull was opposed by a significant majority of MPs, the government plans to proceed with the cull in June 2013. This has given the campaign against the badger cull another 6 months to up their efforts to stop it from going ahead.

Around 15 demonstrators gathered outside Sainsbury's Local in Kingsmead Square at 10am armed with placards and leaflets, and remained there until 12:00 mid-day. Several demonstrators wore masks and costumes, including badgers, foxes and a gorilla, and spoke to many members of the public about the issues surrounding the cull. A security guard stood at the entrance watching, however no attempt was made to move demonstrators.

At noon, several demonstrators relocated to Tesco Express to demonstrate there for another hour. Placards reading "Stop the Badger Slaughter" and "Stop the Cull" were leant against the walls of the store, and the manager requested that they should be removed. The police were called, however the police made no attempt to remove the placards as the demonstrators were within the law.

Now, more than ever, is the time for action on the badger cull. Protests such as today's demonstration, walks around the cull zone, petitions, lobbying government and MPs and spreading the facts about the bader cull - most importantly that the scientists who killed thousands of badgers to see if it would make a difference to bovine TB concluded that it would make "no meaningful contribution" - need to continue, and the sucesses of the past week need to be built upon in order to ensure that this senseless killing does not go ahead.

See here for background information about the badger cull with links and references (an updated version of this is in the works): http://standingstonesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/the-badger-cull-facts-alternatives-and.html

For more information, visit the Badger Killers website: http://badger-killers.co.uk/

There are many anti-cull Facebook groups, those relevant to today's demonstrations are Stop the Cull and Bath Against the Badger Cull. Please "like" these pages and share their posts.