by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The British government and especially the farming lobby blames badgers as being the carrier of this disease.
However, I would like to suggest that the badger is just the hapless victim.
It is called “Bovine TB” and not “Melis melis TB” for a reason. The reason being it is a disease that is a cattle one and the badger just happens to get infected by cattle that have the disease and then he, poor badger, becomes an additional carrier.
To all intents and purposes, this tuberculosis is a bovine one, and it is not the badger who is the originator. Thus we need to look at cattle and some way of vaccinating them. However, it is easier to blame the badger and go and kill those – after all – protected animals.
The entire thing is a vicious circle which starts with the cattle, gets transferred to the badger and then via the badger to other cows. There is only one way to break this circle and it is not by killing badgers.
Think about it, it is called Bovine TB not Melis melis TB. Melis melis is the Latin term for the badger and bovine means cow, or cattle.
© 2013
