SIR – I am horrified thousands of badgers were recently killed in two areas on England in a misguided attempt to control TB in cattle.

In protest, I am boycotting English dairy products and would like to encourage others to do likewise.

Persecuting badgers for being the main vector for spreading TB makes as much sense as persecuting black cats for spreading bad luck and witchcraft.

The qualified consensus – reached by the ten-year study by Independent Scientific Group – is that “badger culling cannot meaningfully contribute to the control of bovine TB in Britain.”

Yes, cases have sometimes increased, but the fact remains that the finger of blame for this crisis has to point back at the farming community and bad political decisions.

Dairy herd sizes have more than doubled since the 1970s – when bovine TB was at its lowest. There is a direct correlation between larger herd sizes and the spread of disease. The rush to intensify animal agriculture has led to this disastrous situation.

For more information on what you can do, visit viva.org.uk/badgers.

Garry Hudson, Tanhouse Lane, Wilsden