ABOUT US

Secret World Wildlife Rescue (SWWR) is a centre caring for over 3000 wildlife casualties every year. It is nationally acclaimed for its work being the largest orphan badger rearing unit in the country. Charity Founder Pauline Kidner, used to be a dairy farmer and experienced a TB breakdown in her herd in 1990. Therefore she has a balance view with regards to this subject – understanding the emotional and financial repercussions of breakdowns in a herd as well as knowing the ecology of the badger.

We encouraged people to support our Black and White Campaign in 2006 asking them to voice their demand that badger culling should not be used as a preventative measure against Bovine TB. Despite over 42,000 people responding to the DEFRA’s Consultation and over 96% of those responses to be against culling, we are alarmed that experiments are being carried out to see if gassing and snaring of badgers could be used as an alternative to cage trapping and shooting which science has proven to be uneconomic and unviable. We are asking you to support our Silent Killer in the Countryside Petition which is against snaring and/or gassing of badgers

You can follow the link here to read and see pictures featuring snaring cases dealt with by various badger organisations.

Pauline Kidner: “Snaring is an indiscriminate and barbaric way of trapping animals which Secret World Wildlife Rescue is totally against. Gassing was banned in 1982 when it was found to be impossible to gauge the size of a sett and badgers were dying a slow and painful death and yet it is being considered as an option. If allowed, it will mean that any species underground will be killed irrespective of what it is - rabbits, foxes and even otters. The government would have to accept the responsibility for the Silent Killer in the Countryside which will mean untold pain and suffering. Why choose this method ? – because there will be no faces to be seen that show the terror and pain suffered at the hands of those licensed to kill. We implore everyone who cares about our countryside to make it clear that culling badgers by trapping, shooting, snaring and/or gassing will never resolve the cattle disease Bovine TB. Nor should culling of badgers be used as a ‘prize’ in order to get farmers to pre-test their cattle as an improved health regime.”