Badger ‘battle bus’ comes to Gloucestershire

The Battle Bus will be in the following town centres:

Friday 19th:

10-12 noon: Quedgeley
1-3pm: Coleford
3:30-4:30pm: Lydney

Saturday 20th:

10-12 noon: Tewkesbury
1-3pm: Cheltenham

Campaigners from Animal Aid and Gloucestershire Against Badger Shooting will be handing out leaflets and campaign postcards (directed to Conservative Party Policy Minister, Oliver Letwin), and talking to local residents about the unnecessary and unethical cull. The two groups are members of Team Badger – a coalition of almost every animal protection organisation in the country. All are committed to stopping the badger cull, which is due to start in Gloucestershire sometime after June 1st.

Joining the campaign is the cosmetics and toiletries company Lush, which will be distributing the campaign postcards in all its 104 high street shops. From 19th April until May 2nd – the date of the local elections – all Lush shop windows will carry the same campaign message: badgers have friends… and those friends have votes.

Says Kate Fowler, Head of Campaigns with Animal Aid

‘The proposed badger cull is unpopular, unethical and unnecessary. The public doesn’t want it, scientists say it won’t work, and wildlife experts are queuing up to denounce it. Regardless, the government plans to forge ahead with this cruel policy, even though there is the option to vaccinate badgers instead. We hope that, come May 2nd, we will have only badger-friendly councillors in office in Gloucestershire, and that Oliver Letwin will take heed of the tens of thousands of votes that could be lost in a general election should the government insist on over-riding democratic opinion.’

Says Jeanne Berry from Gloucestershire Against Badger Shooting

‘We’ve spoken to thousands of local people in Gloucestershire about the cull and the overwhelming majority are firmly against it. All the political parties in the County Council elections, apart from the Conservatives, are against the cull and we are asking our supporters to contact the Conservative leader to ask them to change their minds before the election. We aim to get this message out across the county as the badger bus goes on tour.’

Notes to Editors

• To arrange an interview with Animal Aid’s Head of Campaigns Kate Fowler, or Animal Aid’s Tour Manager Andrew Butler, call 01732 364546. For an interview with Gloucestershire Against Badger Shooting, contact Jeanne Berry on 01452 813168.
• Watch the film being shown on the Battle Bus
• There will be photo opportunities, as volunteers will be dressed in black and white, and wearing badger masks.
• See photos of the Battle Bus