Bovine Tuberculosis and Badger Culling in England: A Utilitarian Analysis of Policy Options

Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, Aug 2017

Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) is an important animal health policy issue in Britain, which impacts farmers, the public, domestic farmed cattle and the wild badger population. The Westminster government’s badger culling policy in England, which began in 2013, has caused considerable controversy. This is in part because the Independent Scientific Group advised against culling, based on the Randomised Badger Culling Trial. Those opposed to badger culling support more stringent cattle-based measures and the vaccination of badgers. This paper argues for ethical analysis of public policy options which impact sentient species. It provides a summary Animal Welfare Impact Assessment of (1) a do-nothing approach, (2) badger culling, and (3) badger vaccination. A utilitarian analysis is then applied to these policy options considering human wellbeing and animal welfare. The analysis compares a badger culling policy that achieves a 19% reduction in bovine TB incidence, a badger vaccination model achieving a 12.5% reduction, and a do-nothing approach. Policy options are assessed over 9 years and a longer timeframe, and uncertainty is considered. The analysis finds that non-culling approaches, particularly badger vaccination, result in greater total utility, compared to badger culling. Badger culling causes 30% reduction in the badger population in England as well as substantial harms due to the culling process. Culling is opposed by public opinion and is associated with considerable risks and uncertainty. In contrast, non-culling approaches, such as cattle-based measures and badger vaccination, are supported by public opinion and are not associated with such risks.

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Bovine Tuberculosis and Badger Culling in England: A Utilitarian Analysis of Policy Options

Bovine Tuberculosis and Badger Culling in England: A Utilitarian Analysis of Policy Options Steven P. McCulloch 0 1 2 Michael J. Reiss 0 1 2 0 UCL Institute of Education, University College London , 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL , UK 1 University of Winchester , Sparkford Road, Winchester SO22 4NR , UK 2 & Steven P. McCulloch Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) is an important animal health policy issue in Britain, which impacts farmers, the public, domestic farmed cattle and the wild badger population. The Westminster government's badger culling policy in England, which began in 2013, has caused considerable controversy. This is in part because the Independent Scientific Group advised against culling, based on the Randomised Badger Culling Trial. Those opposed to badger culling support more stringent cattle-based measures and the vaccination of badgers. This paper argues for ethical analysis of public policy options which impact sentient species. It provides a summary Animal Welfare Impact Assessment of (1) a do-nothing approach, (2) badger culling, and (3) badger vaccination. A utilitarian analysis is then applied to these policy options considering human wellbeing and animal welfare. The analysis compares a badger culling policy that achieves a 19% reduction in bovine TB incidence, a badger vaccination model achieving a 12.5% reduction, and a donothing approach. Policy options are assessed over 9 years and a longer timeframe, and uncertainty is considered. The analysis finds that non-culling approaches, particularly badger vaccination, result in greater total utility, compared to badger culling. Badger culling causes 30% reduction in the badger population in England as well as substantial harms due to the culling process. Culling is opposed by public opinion and is associated with considerable risks and uncertainty. In contrast, nonculling approaches, such as cattle-based measures and badger vaccination, are supported by public opinion and are not associated with such risks. Introduction Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) is an important and highly controversial policy issue in Britain. It is controversial particularly because of the role of the badger, Meles meles, which is a wildlife reservoir of infection. In England, the government has followed a badger culling policy as part of a package of measures to control bovine TB in cattle. However, many claim that badgers should not be culled and some argue for a vaccination policy instead. This paper provides a utilitarian ethical analysis of bovine TB badger control policy options in England. First, a brief overview of bovine TB and badger control policy is provided. Secondly, the paper argues for the inclusion of ethical analysis to inform animal health and welfare policy, such as bovine TB. Thirdly, a summary Animal Welfare Impact Assessment (AWIA) of badger control policy options is provided. Fourthly, the paper provides a brief overview of utilitarian moral theory and analyses bovine TB and badger control policy in the context of a utilitarian framework. Bovine TB and Badger Control Policy in England Bovine TB has been described by government as the most important animal health policy issue in England (Defra 2011c, 2014b) . The policy issue is highly controversial, principally for two reasons. First, the 2010–2015 Coalition government and the 2015-present Conservative government have followed a badger culling programme. The badger is a cherished wildlife species with an important role in British culture and literature. This has contributed to substantial public opposition against badger culling (Defra 2006; HM Gov 2013) . Secondly, the scientific evidence on badger culling is highly contested. For instance, the Independent Scientific Group (ISG) recommended against badger culling based on the findings of the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) (Bourne et al. 2007) . However, the subsequent King review claimed that badger culling could contribute to bovine TB control in cattle (King 2007) . Pilot badger culls commenced in west Somerset and west Gloucestershire in 2013. The culls did not meet the efficacy or humaneness criteria set by the government. Based on RBCT data, the culling companies had a target of culling 70% of the badger population over 6 weeks in licence areas. However, in Somerset less than 48% and in Gloucestershire less than 39% were culled (IEG 2014) . In terms of humaneness, the government set a target of less than 5% of badgers taking over 5 min to die. However, the Independent Expert Group (IEG), which monitored the pilot culls, reported that 7.4–22.8% of badgers took over 5 min to die after being shot (IEG 2014) . The shortcomings of the pilot culls led the government to postpone its planned 2014 roll out across high bovine TB incidence areas. The culls in Somerset and Gloucestershire have continued annually from 2013–2016. The government later announced a new culling area, north Dorset, to commence culling in 2015, (...truncated)


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Steven P. McCulloch, Michael J. Reiss. Bovine Tuberculosis and Badger Culling in England: A Utilitarian Analysis of Policy Options, Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 2017, pp. 1-23, DOI: 10.1007/s10806-017-9680-9