As a result of the public meetings relating to the badger cull that took place in Tewkesbury and Taunton last month, a new group of local residents and activists has formed to try and prevent the cull from taking place in Gloucestershire. The Gloucestershire Against Badger Shooting (GABS) group are a great example of grassroots activism and people brought together by a shared problem. Please take a few minutes to visit their site and see what they are up to, particularly if you live in the Gloucestershire area.
Network for Animals have been helping the group with some of their campaigning work by printing fliers (see below) and setting up some online actions so that people can easily write to Tewkesbury Town Council and to the Tourism Information Centre in Tewkesbury.
As 70% of landowners are required to grant access to their land before a cull can take place, ensuring landowners are properly informed about what the badger cull means so that they can make an informed decision about whether they wish to participate is critical for this campaign. As councils own a lot of land and Stroud council have already pledged to remain free from culling as a result of the Stroud 100 campaign, by writing to Tewkesbury Town Council you can encourage them to follow this example. By writing to the Tourist Information Centre you can highlight concerns about the method of culling that has been chosen; the free shooting of badgers at night in rural locations using high-velocity rifles, so that the tourism industry may get behind the campaign once they see the potential danger to public safety inherent in these plans.
We wish lots of luck to GABS!
