I AM shocked that thousands of badgers are about to be killed in our area of Britain this summer. This is a needless massacre driven by dairy farmers and politicians and, in protest, I am boycotting English dairy products and would like to encourage others to do the same.

Persecuting badgers as the main cause of bovine TB makes as much sense as persecuting black cats as the accomplices of witches. The badger is being made a scapegoat for the failings of the dairy farming industry.

The consensus reached by the independent Scientific Group is that "badger culling cannot meaningfully contribute to the control of bovine TB in Britain." The intensification of dairy farming practices and the huge increase in cattle movements along with a cavalier attitude to biosecurity are the real reasons for the spread of this disease. Around 14 million cattle are moved round the UK in a year, four times the number moved in 1999.

Dairy herd sizes have more than doubled since the 1970s. There is a direct correlation between larger herd sizes and the disease. The rush to intensify animal farming has led to a disastrous situation. Dairy cows suffer the dual burden of pregnancy and lactation during much of their lives. Their immune systems are destroyed by physical exhaustion and they are killed at a fraction of their natural lifespan. Add to this the inaccuracy of Bovine TB testing – in about one third of cases – and you start to see what is really wrong.

There is no need to target English wildlife and kill badgers by shooting – how many will simply be injured and die slowly? I would encourage anyone with a love of our wildlife to boycott English dairy products. A drop in the industry's profits might bring farmers and politicians to their senses.

– Joyce Moss, Lydney.