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There will be no badger cull in Northern Ireland, Stormont officials confirmed.

The Department for Agriculture Environment and Rural Development said it is continuing with a scheme that sees the animals captured and vaccinated in a bid to reduce TB in cattle.

The spread of the disease is controversial with some insisting it is caused by badgers, while others blame poor herd management and even hounds used in hunts.

The issue sparked a fresh row after images emerged of a badger apparently left to bleed to death after being caught during a cull in Dorset.

Animal rights campaigners in Northern Ireland say DAERA officials are considering introducing a cull here, however the Stormont department yesterday denied that is the case.

In a statement, the League Against Cruel Sports Northern Ireland said the Dorset case “demonstrates there can be no such thing as a humane badger cull”.

It added: “Despite the failure of this unscientific policy in Britain and Ireland, last December, DAERA proposed the expansion of culls to Northern Ireland, including the use of snares to ‘restrain’ badgers prior to shooting. In light of increasing evidence about the horrific suffering inflicted on wildlife by this policy, culling should be ruled out immediately.”

A Department spokesman said there is “currently” no culling policy.

He added: “DAERA currently undertakes the test and vaccinate or remove wildlife intervention research project.

“This is a five-year project, due to end fieldwork in 2018, which is designed to ascertain the effect of a TVR approach on badgers.

“Results of this project will not be available until at least 2019.”

Activists in Dorset say they found the dead badger at 1.20pm the following day after it was trapped and claimed its body was still warm to the touch.

The manner of its death and the failure to quickly remove the corpse for disposal appears to breach strict rules.

A best practice guide for the cull, issued by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: “Cage traps set to catch must be checked and any badgers caught must be dealt with as soon as practicable after dawn the following day.”