The culling of badgers as a bovine tuberculosis control measure in England is a major animal welfare issue involving the killing of hundreds of thousands of animals.
Badgers killed by free-shooting may survive if wounded and die slowly over subsequent hours or days. Cage-trapped badgers experience significant stress from confinement before killing. The welfare cost of culling is compounded by its limited effectiveness — research suggests culling increases perturbation of badger populations that may increase rather than decrease tuberculosis transmission. Vaccination provides the same protection benefit without the welfare cost of killing.