A Michael Broad Blog
Since 2013, it is believed that around 230,000 badgers have been killed in extensive culls across the UK to tackle Bovine TB according to the Badger Trust an organisation opposed to the culling. The UK government which has insisted on the badger culling at all stages estimates that between 70% and 90% of badgers …
This post is obliquely related to cats which is why I decided to publish it here. But it is mainly about dogs. Specifically, dogs on walks in the countryside where there are cattle. Neospora caninum is a protozoan parasite. It’s a microscopic, single-celled organism that can cause significant problems for animals, particularly cattle and …
I mean this news story beggars belief for me. It makes me very angry. It is about a failure of animal welfare generally and concerns a story that Tesco has suspended a pig farmer because the piglets were raised in abysmal conditions. Some secret video footage emerged showing far workers at Cross Farm in …
Do caracals eat livestock? Yes, must be the answer but it depends where the caracal lives for obvious reasons because livestock has to be available to be taken. And in some parts of South Africa, the caracal has a reputation for killing livestock. Further, this obviously annoys South African farmers who retaliate. It should …
NEWS AND VIEWS-NEW ZEALAND: A story on the stuff.co.nz website tells me in no uncertain terms that New Zealanders totally accept the shooting dead of stray DOMESTIC cats. These were owned cats that have been dumped by irresponsible cat owners. I suspect that many of them are microchipped. Nonetheless, the owner of Tunanui Station …
It is said that Australia’s out-of-control mouse plague could last for up to 2 years unless the government takes urgent action in giving farmers free poison which is an anticoagulant. The mice die of internal bleeding. The trouble is that the poison is dangerous to other wildlife. Trying to kill a specific animal with …
Background Tasmania is an island state of Australia and sheep farming is a major component of Australia’s agricultural industry. The protozoan parasite toxoplasmosis is well known. The domestic and stray cat is the primary host. They shed Toxoplasma gondii oocysts for about eight days in faeces but the oocysts are durable and survive in …
