Hunt saboteurs association Press Release September 7th 2013
Animal rights campaigner Joan Court, 94, will stage a 24 hour hunger strike next week to highlight opposition to the badger cull and raise support for the Hunt Saboteurs Association. The protest will start at 8am on Tuesday in Tewkesbury Market place.
The government sanctioned badger slaughter is currently taking place in Somerset and Gloucestershire and if allowed to continued uninterrupted will see the death of 5000 badgers by the middle of October. Many more will be maimed or wounded and left to die a slow painful death. This is a pilot cull and could potentially be rolled out nationwide so it is vital we stop it now.
Joan said: “I think the cull is horrendous, unnecessary, unscientific and brutal.
“We are wiping out our wild animals when all the scientific advice is the same, that we should concentrate on vaccinating. I would like to be with the hunt saboteurs but I think the most useful thing I can do is to raise money to help stop the cull.”
Hunt Saboteurs from across the country have been fighting the cull since it was first announced. Groups have thoroughly surveyed the cull zones to find the badger setts and are now camped out, directly intervening between the shooters and the badgers.
Lee Moon, spokesperson for the Hunt Saboteurs Association, stated: “We thank Joan for her tireless commitment to animals and for making such a sacrifice to highlight this cruel cull. It is deeply disappointing that in this day and age a 94 year old has to go on hunger strike about this issue. The badger kill is immoral and unscientific and it is criminal that the Con-Dem government has forced it to happen against all impartial advice.”