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Dr. Brian May has called for an end to the “hideous and useless” badger cull in an address to parliament.
The Queen guitarist, astrophysicist, and animal rights campaigner, 74, spoke about the issue with his three million Instagram followers.
He told fans that “140,000 beautiful native British animals have now been slaughtered, producing no benefit for cows or farmers.”
While supporters of badger culls claim they help to reduce the spread of Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cows, critics – including May – have pointed out that they have made no impact on the disease.
He previously criticized “successive Conservative governments” for allowing the culls to take place, adding that they’d been “completely ineffective as a way of controlling the disease in cows.”
May, who is vegan, also used his parliament speech to urge the government to follow through with plans to ban fur and foie gras imports, as well as tighten laws against blood sports like fox hunting.
Fur and foie gras production is banned in the UK, but importing the products from other countries is currently legal.
The government announced plans to ban imports of both products as part of its Animals Abroad Bill last year, but it was recently reported that it had reversed its decision. Senior politicians – including Jacob Rees-Mogg – were said to have criticized the ban on the grounds that it would “limit personal choice” of the consumer.
In an interview with the BBC after his speech to parliament, May said he was “hurt and frustrated” that the government isn’t introducing animal protection laws fast enough.
