I FEEL a response is needed from those of us in Dorset opposed to the badger cull who have been vilified this week in some sectors of the national press.

In stark contrast to the image in which we have been portrayed as rabid sub-humans, we are in fact a group of people from all walks of life, linked only by our concern for wildlife.

Scientific studies show that over ninety per cent of TB is transmitted from cattle to cattle.Therefore it is glaringly obvious to anyone - except apparently government ministers - that culling badgers will do nothing to alleviate the problem.

It is merely a politically motivated placebo to appease an industry which deserves much better.

Here in Dorset, despite what you may hear from the NFU, bovine TB is on the decrease. New herd incidents have dropped by 20 per cent over the last year, and the number of cattle slaughtered over the last two years has fallen by over 37 per cent.

The extortionate amount of money wasted on culling badgers in Gloucestershire and Somerset - which incidentally brought about a RISE in TB - could have been so much better spent seeking a real solution to the problem.

What our failing dairy industry needs is an end to the ridiculously low milk prices brought about by cutthroat supermarket wars and a real commitment from the government to end bovine TB once and for all by throwing their weight and cash behind a cattle vaccination programme.

Karin Snellock Martinstown Dorchester