Badgers (Hansard, 29 April 1999)

§ Mr. Nigel Jones
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what methods are being used for killing badgers in the randomised badger culling trial. [81508]

§ Mr. Rooker
Badgers are humanely despatched by shooting.

§ Mr. Nigel Jones
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if a veterinary surgeon will be present when each badger is captured and killed in the randomised culling trial. [81511]

§ Mr. Rooker
The despatch of badgers may only be carried out by fully trained MAFF staff following standard operating procedures. Veterinary staff are not required to be present.

§ Mr. Nigel Jones
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what administrative and practical measures have been put in place to ensure that badger welfare is optimised during the capture and killing of badgers; [81509]
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(2) what training field staff involved in the randomised badger culling trial have received in killing badgers humanely; [81510]
(3) what training is given to new field staff involved in the randomised badger culling trial in identifying badger field signs and in shooting badgers humanely. [81512]

§ Mr. Rooker
New Wildlife Unit Staff receive initial training in how to recognise badger field activity from experts from the Central Science Laboratory and then work in the field alongside experienced Wildlife Unit Staff until they are fully competent.
To limit the time that badgers may be left in cage traps, standard operating procedures require that cages set to trap be checked as early as possible the following day and normally no later than 12:00 noon. Trapping will be suspended, if, due to bad weather, there is a risk that cage traps could be flooded or trapped badgers would suffer from extreme exposure. Both temperature and wind-chill are taken into account.
The despatch of badgers may be carried out only by MAFF staff who have been fully trained, tested and issued with an "Authority to use Firearms on Official Business". Such staff receive external and internal training on the safe and humane use of firearms specifically in relation to badgers. Given the importance of this work, action is being taken to appoint an independent auditor to assess the humaneness of the method of despatch and the proper application of these procedures.