More than 800 badgers culled in Westmeath

Almost 1,000 badgers have been culled in Westmeath in the last two years, more than in any other county. The number culled in 2022 came to 468, while the number last year was 364.

The information was given to Deputy Holly Cairns by way of response to a parliamentary question she asked of agriculture minister, Charlie McConalogue. Deputy Cairns’s question asked for details of the number of badgers culled by county, and the number found dead in snares, and the number that were alive and killed by gunshot or other method. Minister McConalogue responded that his department does not use snares for the capture of badgers. “All badgers captured are caught using a stopped body restraint,” he said.

The minister went on to say that in cases where badgers have to be killed, that is done “in a humane manner”, either through the use of a licensed firearm or by the administration of intravenous barbiturates by a veterinary inspector. “[The Department of Agriculture, Food and The Marine] does not record if a badger is alive or dead in a restraint in a culling area,” he concluded.