Some 30,000 badgers have been destroyed since 1975, in a failed attempt to curb the disease. And despite virtually exterminating badgers from four counties in Ireland, a huge TB problem remains in each of those areas. (1)

The farming industry has long resisted the idea that its own intensive rearing, breeding and transport practices are at the heart of the bovine TB problem. In fact, exhaustive research demonstrates that cattle movements 'substantially and consistently outweigh' all other factors in spreading bovine TB. (2) The disease has appeared in areas that have been TB-free for ten years, sometimes longer, despite the fact that badgers were present throughout the period. The key new factor was the unregulated countrywide movements of cattle who - because of the BSE and then the foot and mouth crises - were not tested for TB infectivity before being transported. (1)

(1) 'Bovine TB and the government's proposed slaughter of badgers: TIME FOR THE CATTLE INDUSTRY TO CLEAN UP ITS ACT', Animal Aid, 1 February 2006 (http://www.animalaid.org.uk/h/n/NEWS/news_factory/ALL/1247)

(2) This is according to a paper published in Nature on May 26, 2005, by Dr William Wint and colleagues at Oxford University's Environmental Research Group (http://www.indymedia.ie/article/70074)