Bovine Tuberculosis Policy in England: Would a Virtuous Government Cull Mr Badger?

Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) is the most important animal health and welfare policy issue in Britain. Badgers are a wildlife reservoir of disease, although the eight-year Independent Scientific Group (ISG) Randomised Badger Culling Trial concluded with a recommendation against culling. The report advised government that bovine TB could be controlled, and ultimately eradicated, by cattle-based measures alone. Despite the ISG recommendation against culling, the farming and veterinary industries continued to lobby government for a badger cull. The 2005–2010 Labour government followed the ISG advice and decided against a cull. The 2010–2015 Coalition and the 2015-present Conservative governments have followed a badger culling policy. This paper investigates whether a virtuous government would cull badgers. It provides an overview of virtue theory in the context of government animal health and welfare policy. Bovine TB and badger control policy options are then analysed in the context of the virtues of justice, wisdom, integrity, loyalty, curiosity, trust, empathy, compassion and aesthetics. Justice is the first virtue of government, and badger culling is seriously problematic from a virtue perspective given that five badgers are culled per cow that avoids slaughter as a result. Analysis based on other virtues strongly suggests that government should not cull badgers. The paper concludes that a virtuous government would not cull badgers as part of policy to control bovine TB in cattle

Bovine Tuberculosis and Badger Control in Britain: Science, Policy and Politics

Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) is the most economically important animal health policy issue in Britain. The problem of what to do about badgers has plagued successive governments since a dead badger was discovered with bovine TB in 1971. Successive Labour governments (1997–2010) oversaw the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) from 1998 to 2006. Despite the RBCT recommendation against culling, the 2010–2015 Coalition government implemented pilot badger culls. This paper provides an account of the evolution of bovine TB and badger control policy, focusing on the 1997–2010 Labour, the 2010–2015 Coalition and the 2015-present Conservative governments. Interviews with bovine TB policy stakeholders supplement discussion of the development of bovine TB policy. The paper discusses the science and politics of bovine TB policy, in which there are different badger control policies in Westminster, Welsh and Scottish governments. Badger control is a highly polarised issue, and the Coalition and Conservative governments have been heavily criticised for a culling policy opposed by the independent scientific community. Recent governments have defended badger culling on the basis of veterinary advice and experience in countries such as New Zealand. The paper concludes with two key recommendations to inform controversial animal health and welfare policy issues such as bovine TB. First, mandatory Animal Welfare Impact Assessment provides objective data on the impacts of policy options on cows and badgers. Second, robust ethical analysis, conducted by independent experts using established moral frameworks, should be applied to animal health and welfare issues for the benefit of decision makers

The role of heterotrophic bacteria in feldspar dissolution - an experimental approach

\This paper presents the results of a laboratory study on the influence of heterotrophic bacteria on dissolution of a silicate mineral (K-feldspar) under a variety of growth conditions. Twenty seven strains of heterotrophic bacteria were isolated from a feldspar-rich soil (Shap, NW England). Liquid and solid minimal aerobic media (C/N-sufficient, K-limited, Fe-limited, N-limited and glucose/NH4Cl only) at 26degreesC were used for isolation of the bacteria. The media selected bacterial isolates that were fast-growing aerobic heterotrophs able to use glucose as the sole source of carbon and energy. The extent of mineral dissolution (in the presence of the isolates) was assessed after 48 h of incubation by measuring the release of Al from the K-feldspar by ICP-AES. More detailed dissolution experiments were carried out with one of the strains, Serratia marcescens, an isolate that was very effective in enhancing feldspar dissolution. The main conclusions of this study are: (1) the degree of enhancement of K-feldspar dissolution varied with bacterial isolate and growth conditions; (2) enhancement of dissolution began during stationary phase growth; (3) the production of chelating compounds (exopolymers, siderophores, pigments) during the stationary phase might be a possible mechanism for bacterially enhanced K-feldspar dissolution; (4) the frequent sub-culturing of isolates can have a significant effect on their physiological characteristics and may possibly influence their capacity to enhance mineral dissolution

Sediment movement and filtration in a riparian meadow following cattle use

Improper livestock grazing practices in western U.S. riparian areas may reduce the nutrient and pollutant removal function of riparian communities, resulting in degradation of surface water quality. Short duration-high intensity cattle use in 3 x 10 m plots was evaluated in a montane riparian meadow in northern Colorado to quantify livestock effects on sediment movement and filtration under simulated rainfall (approximately equal to 100 mm hour(-1)) plus overland flow (approximately equal to 25 mm hour(-1)) conditions. Four treatments: 1) control, 2) mowed to 10 cm stubble height, 3) trampled by cattle, and 4) cattle grazed plus trampled (grazed) were evaluated. Sixty kg of sediment was introduced to overland flow in each plot. Sediment movement was evaluated using sediment traps positioned in microchannels and on vegetation islands at 5 distances downslope from the upper end of the plots and by sediment front advancement. Most sediment deposition occurred within the first meter downslope from application. About 90% of the applied sediment was filtered from runoff within 10 m in the control and mowed treatments, while approximately 84 and 77% of the applied sediment was trapped in the trampled and grazed treatment plots, respectively. The primary variables that influenced sediment filtration were stem density and surface random roughness. Stem density was the most influential variable that affected sediment filtration. Cattle grazing reduced the stem density by 40%. Monitoring of stem density should aid land managers in regulating cattle use of riparian communities and facilitate the protection of surface water quality from sediment in overland flow.The Journal of Range Management archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform August 202