Former guitarist with rock band Queen – Brian May – is to challenge the lawfulness of UK badger cull licences, through his Save Me Trust.
Lawyers on behalf of the trust have written to the Chief Executive and the Chief Legal Advisor warning them of a High Court challenge should badger cull licences be activated.
The trust said that if any licences to cull badgers are either activated in Gloucestershire and Somerset then the lawfulness of the decisions to do so will be challenged by a Judicial Review in the High Court.
The Save Me Trust also said that if any new licences are granted for badger culling anywhere then that decision will also be challenged in the High Court.
A statement on the Trust’s website said that to continue the culling of badgers is unlawful.
“It does not rationally serve the statutory purpose which permits the killing of badgers only to achieve the aim of preventing the spread of disease,” it said.
“Additionally there has been a fundamental failure in the consultation process, a logically flawed approach in calculating badger numbers and a failure in Gloucestershire in any event to meet its minimum targets in 2013 and 2014,” it said.
Founded in 2009, Save Me was formed to give wildlife a voice, the website said.
Its main aims are to keep and strengthen the Hunting Act in the UK and to put an end to the unscientific cull of badgers and to find a sustainable and viable solution to the cull.
The pilot badger cull in the UK is in its third year and involves shooting wild badgers and cage trapping (then shooting).
