We heard on Friday that we had lost our challenge of the legality of free shooting of Badgers. It is legal for Natural England to license shooting of badgers which does not meet the welfare recommendations of the expert committee which set out what the standards should be. Government and Natural England do not have their own criteria on the dividing line betweem cruel and not cruel and haven’t used those proposed by experts.
We’re sorry that we didn’t win this one but we are glad that we tried. We thank our legal colleagues at Leigh Day and Matrix Law for all the time and expertise they have put in to this complex case. The moral position is clear, the legal position is very complex. We also thank many experts who know a lot more about issues such as the pain suffered when a bullet passes through a living being than we do. And also we thank our supporters for funding this challenge.
Here is the Court Order.
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