Through dialogue with a number of major UK supermarkets, Care for the Wild established that only Asda, Waitrose and Mark & Spencer could guarantee that their own-label milk would come from farms outside of Somerset and Gloucestershire. From 1 June, farmers in these counties will be permitted to shoot badgers.
Around 5,000 badgers in these areas will be culled during the cull in an attempt to curb rising levels of bovine TB.
Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons, and the Co-op were unable to guarantee that their own-label milk is 'badger-friendly', Care for the Wild said.
“The reasons why supermarkets can or can’t offer this might be to do with luck rather than policy, or it might be to do with complicated supply chains which, frankly, shouldn’t be so complicated that they don’t actually know where the milk has come from,” said CEO of Care for the Wild, Philip Mansbridge.
“Either way, consumers should be given choice – a choice to buy cage-free eggs, a choice to buy free range pork, and a choice to buy badger-friendly milk. I think when they are given that choice, many will take it.”