The killing has started in Somerset and Gloucestershire. Badgers are being shot with high-powered rifles in the dead of night, some will be killed outright, others will be left wounded. Despite the efforts of hundreds of thousands of compassionate people to lobby, leaflet and campaign, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that killing badgers will not make any meaningful difference to TB in cattle, the government have forged ahead with their mindless plans. The only hope left for those badgers in the firing line are people willing to go out into the countryside and be a visible presence in the cull zones. It’s a monumental task, a needle in a haystack search of hundreds of square miles, looking out for the vehicles, lights in the darkness and the sound of gunfire. The more people willing to undertake this task the fewer badgers will suffer and die. There are nightly patrols in both counties. Somerset Badger Patrol and the Wounded Badger Patrol in Gloucestershire need your help now. Meeting points are posted daily. Lifts are being organised from all over the UK. We encourage all of our supporters to support these efforts in any way they can.

In Dorset we are doing all we can to make sure that if the cull comes here we are ready. Sett surveying is under way but we need help to make sure we know where the badger setts in the provisional cull zones are. So far these have only been identified as East Dorset and North Dorset. These are huge areas to cover and there is still much to be done. There is also a Dorset Wounded Badger Patrol getting together people who pledge to undertake patrols if and when the cull begins in Dorset. We will begin training for these patrols in the coming months. We welcome new members and continue to have public leafleting events and meetings (see the sidebar to the right for details for dates). Finally, we are setting up a vaccination programme so we can offer low-cost vaccination of badgers to anyone within the proposed cull zones.

We all need to do what we can. All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.