Tracey had the pleasure to host Sir Brian May’s Save Me Trust in Parliament for a lobbying event on both amending the Hunting Act 2004 and ending the Badger Cull. The Save Me Trust was set up to protect the welfare and dignity of wild animals. This event specifically looked at ending the Badger Cull and bringing forward amendments to the Hunting Act 2004, two issues Tracey cares very deeply about and has raised several times in the House of Commons. In the past Tracey has often felt that her words on these issues have fallen upon deaf ears. Tracey now hopes that her colleagues are finally beginning to realise, after what has been 10 years of ill-thought policy, that it is high time we give the voiceless badger and fox the protection and freedom to share this planet with them.
The Badger Cull is both expensive and ineffective. It has been consistently shown that the policy data is unreliable and the reservoir of disease remains overwhelmingly undetected in the herd. Until we have improved testing and research this issue further, we will never fully eradicate Bovine Tb through the aimless culling of badgers. Furthermore, there are also seven simple changes to the Hunting Act 2004 that will strengthen it by facilitating enforcement, creating stronger deterrents and will close the loopholes currently being exploited by hunters.
Tracey said:
"While I was very happy to see many MPs attend this event with great enthusiasm to act on both these issues, there is still much cross-party support needed to bring these terrible practices to an end once and for all. I am glad I was able to start the year off with such an event, in hopes that we can finally put the politics aside and come together to preserve the beautiful creatures with whom we share our planet."
