The former TB Free England video case study subject told readers about the stress of living with a bovine TB breakdown, as Labour-controlled Derbyshire County Council considers a move to become the first local authority to ban any future cull of badgers on its land.
Back in April, Angela told TB Free England about a breakdown on the farm she owns with husband Barry, which had left a ten-month-old calf orphaned and threatened the rest of the 80-strong Belgian Blue-cross Limousin herd the pair have built up.
Angela and Barry raised the orphan themselves, feeding it from milk bottles before “fostering” it out to another cow. But they now live under the shadow – and business restrictions – that a positive TB test bring.
“I used to love watching badgers when I was a child,” Angela told the Sunday Telegraph.
“We used to go out at dusk, and watch them play. It was magical. Now if I see one, I just feel dread.
“There’s always this connection with your animals. You can’t help asking yourself why a badger matters more than my cows.”
“It’s endless stress and worry. We are just about surviving, but all the extra work we have to do on this means there’s less we can do for the business.
Two pilot badger culls to tackle a disease which led to the slaughter of 38,000 cattle in Great Britain in 2012 are planned in Gloucestershire and Somerset.