Brian May to launch Badger and Cattle Vaccination Initiative

Forefront in the fight against the Government's badger cull policy, Queen guitarist Brian May joins with cosmetics company Lush and leading animal welfare organisations including the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and Save Me to launch a new initiative, BACVI (Badger and Cattle Vaccination Initiative), a nationwide appeal to promote and support vaccination of badgers and cattle as a tool in the fight against bovine TB.

Despite the failure of last year's pilot culls to achieve their objectives, the Government is preparing to go forward with plans to roll out the culling of badgers throughout the UK. It is no secret that farmers and landowners are already being called on by Natural England to prepare applications for future badger control licences.

By launching BACVI, May and partnering organisations are striving to win support among farmers to adopt vaccination as an immediate move towards helping to control bovine TB in both badgers and cattle, as opposed to culling, which it suggests may currently be accelerating the spread of the disease.

BACVI is announced as "a new, humane and credible project that will protect badgers from bovine TB, and take them out of the equation as regards bTB in cattle".

Brian May is best known for his role in band Queen and recognised as one of the world's finest rock guitarists. Brian founded Save Me (www.save--me.org.uk) to give wild animals a voice and ensure that they are protected. He is also a founder of Team Badger.