Are you aware that your taxes are being used to pay 75 government staff to snare and kill badgers in Ireland? VOICE is asking you to support the Irish Wildlife Trust's campaign to stop badger culling in Ireland.The Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) is opposed to badger culling and the use of snares. Not only is it barbaric and unethical, recent findings have shown it to be ineffective in the war on bovine TB. Badgers can die over extended periods struggling in these hideous devices while their young starve underground. Nobody has ever counted badgers accurately in this country and while it has always been assumed that they are common animals, this can no longer be taken for granted.• 115,000 badgers have been killed by the Irish Government since 1984• 6,000 snares are set in Ireland every night• €70 million of citizen's money has been allocated to the disease eradication programme this year alone• Badgers are a protected species by Irish and European lawThe IWT wants this practice to stop immediately. It is cruel, wasteful and damages Ireland’s reputation for its ‘green island economy’. We recognise that bovine TB is a major problem for Irish farmers but it also must be recognised that culling does not work. Resources should be focused on a national vaccination programme. Faulty science and politically driven motives should not be used as excuses for slaughtering our wildlife.Scotland and most of mainland europe are officially TB free!! Scotland achieved this in 2009 without badger culling through better farming methods, movement testing and restrictions. This is a proven solution that has worked in many other countries. Why can't we do this?You can learn more about badgers in Ireland and the impact of culling on www.iwt.ie where you can also donate to our campaign and be in with a chance to win a specially commissioned oil portrait of a badger family by Ireland’s top wildlife artist Morgan Gibbs.www.iwt.ie