Humane Society aims to assess views on culling

The Humane Society International has launched an online survey in order to gauge veterinary opinions on the pilot badger cull.

Since approval was given earlier this year for a pilot cull to take place in Gloucestershire and Somerset, it has attracted much controversy, with numerous charities and veterinary surgeons alike questioning the scientific and ethical justifications behind it.

The pilot cull has, however, received conditional support from the British Veterinary Association (BVA), which has stressed the importance of gathering scientific evidence to inform future policy decisions.

As a result, there have been concerns among some veterinary surgeons that the BVA has not yet canvassed its membership to gauge opinions, and that the association's stance could be seen as representative of the whole profession.

Mark Jones, veterinary surgeon and executive director of the Humane Society UK, explains that the survey is intended to improve understanding of the views of the profession as a whole.

In 10 questions, the survey aims to gather information such as whether or not vets agree with the cull and the BVA's stance, how well informed they feel about the government's policy on badger control and how science-based they feel that policy to be.

Veterinary surgeons who are registered with the RCVS can complete the form on survey monkey.