According to the Farmers Guardian the National Beef Association has welcomed the appointment of Professor Christopher Wathes to oversee the two English pilot badger culls.
Farming Minister Jim Paice announced that Prof Wathes had been appointed as chairman of the independent panel of experts that will oversee the pilots when he unveiled their location – West Somerset and West Gloucestershire – last week.
Prof Wathes is a research scientist with interests in the environmental biology and management of farm and other animals. He is Professor of Animal Welfare at the Royal Veterinary College and the current chair of the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC).
The independent panel of experts will oversee and advise on the monitoring of the safety, humaneness and effectiveness of controlled shooting during the six-week pilots, which will commence in the ‘early autumn’.
The group will then report back to Government. Its report will largely determine whether the policy is rolled out to a further 10 locations a year from 2013.
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