Nigel Paul Gibbens CBE (born 1 March 1958) is a British veterinarian and civil servant. He was the United Kingdom's Chief Veterinary Officer from May 2008 to March 2018. [1]
Gibbens was born on 1 March 1958 in Dover, Kent, England. He studied at the Royal Veterinary College, graduating with a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree. [2]
On 21 May 2008, Gibbens became the Chief Veterinary Officer of the United Kingdom and for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. [3] [4]
Gibbens supports the culling of badgers in an attempt to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis, describing the practice as "the best available option". [5]
He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 New Year Honours. [6]
Brian Harold May is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and astrophysicist. He is the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen.
Badgers are short-legged omnivores mostly in the family Mustelidae, but also with two species called "badgers" in the related family Mephitidae. Badgers are a polyphyletic grouping, and are not a natural taxonomic grouping: badgers are united by their squat bodies, adapted for fossorial activity. All belong to the caniform suborder of carnivoran mammals.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Concordats set out agreed frameworks for co operation, between it and the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, which have devolved responsibilities for these matters in their respective nations.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is a charity operating in England and Wales that promotes animal welfare. The RSPCA is funded primarily by voluntary donations. Its patron is Queen Elizabeth II. Founded in 1824, it is the oldest and largest animal welfare organisation in the world and is one of the largest charities in the UK. The organisation also does international outreach work across Europe, Africa and Asia.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is the U.K. government department responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwise devolved to the Scottish Government, Welsh Government or Northern Ireland Executive. It oversees the English National Health Service (NHS). The department is led by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care with three Ministers of State and three Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State.
Owen William Paterson is a British Conservative Party politician who was the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2012 to 2014. He was first elected as the Member of Parliament for North Shropshire at the 1997 general election. Paterson is also the President of the Northern Ireland Conservatives.
The European badger, also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to almost all of Europe and some parts of Western Asia. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List as it has a wide range and a large stable population size, and is thought to be increasing in some regions. Several subspecies are recognized with the nominate subspecies predominating in most of Europe. In Europe, where no other badger species commonly occurs, it is generally just called the "badger".
Mycobacterium bovis is a slow-growing aerobic bacterium and the causative agent of tuberculosis in cattle. It is related to Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium which causes tuberculosis in humans. M. bovis can jump the species barrier and cause tuberculosis-like infection in humans and other mammals.
Deborah Reynolds CB served as the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) of the United Kingdom from March 2004 until she retired in November 2007. She is usually referred to as Debby Reynolds, or less often as Deborah Reynolds.
The Chief Veterinary Officer is an official in the British government, who is head of veterinary services in the United Kingdom. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also each have a Chief Veterinary Officer.
Keith Cameron Meldrum CB, MRCVS, DVSM, HonFRSH was the United Kingdom's Chief Veterinary Officer from June 1988 to April 1997.
William Howard Guest Rees CB was the Chief Veterinary Officer of the United Kingdom from August 1980 to May 1988.
Frederick John Landeg was the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) of the United Kingdom and for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), from November 2007 to April 2008.
Janet Anne Royall, Baroness Royall of Blaisdon,, is a British Labour Co-operative Party politician. She was Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council. She is the principal of Somerville College, Oxford.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is a neurodegenerative disease of cattle. Symptoms include abnormal behavior, trouble walking, and weight loss. Later in the course of the disease the cow becomes unable to function normally. The time between infection and onset of symptoms is generally four to five years. Time from onset of symptoms to death is generally weeks to months. Spread to humans is believed to result in variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD). As of 2018, a total of 231 cases of vCJD had been reported globally.
Badger culling in the United Kingdom is permitted under licence, within a set area and timescale, as a way to reduce badger numbers in the hope of controlling the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB).
The Badger Trust, formerly the National Federation of Badger Groups (NFBG), is a British animal welfare charity. It represents around sixty groups dedicated to the conservation and protection of the European badger.
"Save the Badger Badger Badger" is a mashup of Jonti Picking's 2003 viral Flash animation Badgers and "Flash" by Queen. The song was released on 19 May 2013, in response to proposed badger culling in the United Kingdom. The song features vocals and guitar from Brian May and visuals reminiscent to the 1980 film Flash Gordon, in addition to vocals from Weebl and Brian Blessed. Said May of the song:
The British people are speaking in their many thousands, and yet the Government is refusing to listen. We thank them for buying this track and giving the badgers a voice. Let’s get this to number one so David Cameron cannot avoid it. This cull is unscientific, unethical and won’t work. The government is set to murder 5,000 badgers and yet all the peer-reviewed scientific evidence shows that the answer to the problem of bovine TB in cattle does not lie in this slaughter and that this action will be ineffective and potentially damaging to the welfare of both farm animals and wildlife. It is shocking that the NFU and the government have been allowed to continue with a politically led policy with no basis in science against the will of the people. Badgers rock!
Christopher John Pollock CBE is a leading British research scientist.
Alfred Lionel Rose,, better known as Lionel Rose, was a veterinarian and Australian Army officer who served in both World War I and II. He is best known for pioneering the live cattle trade from the Northern Territory to Asia and curing cattle disease. He was known to be an outrageous person who loved to shock people, especially after a few drinks.