DON'T ALLOW VICTORIA TO BECOME A KILLING FIELD FOR KANGAROOS
- Australian Wildlife Protection Council
- Closed on
- Target:
- The Victorian Government
- Region:
- Australia
A 'big thank-you' to everyone who supported this petition. The Victorian Government has not as yet made a decision about the reintroduction of a commercial Kangaroo industry but this petition will certainly let them know that we do not want Victoria to become a killing field for our Kangaroos.
Again, sincere thanks for your support.
In early September this year the South Grampians Shire touted the idea of making use (pet food) of the carcasses of Kangaroos which had been shot under a Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) liberal distribution of Authority To Control Wildlife (ATCW) permits.
The number of Kangaroos shot under an ATCW each year is anything from 15,000 - 30,000. Is it just a coincidence that when Victoria had a commercial industry the take was around 30,000 a year and there were no ATCW's?
The idea of the South Grampians Shire has recently been given backing by the Municipals Association of Victoria (MAV) who will lobby the Government on behalf of all Victorian Municipalities to have this plan implemented.
Recently it was revealed that the Baillieu Government is planning to take this idea much further and is currently undertaking research into the regulatory systems governing the taking of Kangaroos in the wild, in other words, the slaughter of Kangaroos for commercial purposes.
The commercial slaughter of Kangaroos was banned in 1982 by the Cain Government but it's reintroduction was raised again in 2002 when the Bracks Government presided and was fully investigated by the Environmental and Natural Resources Committee of Parliament (ENRC).
ENRC recommended that the development of an industry based on the harvest of wild Kangaroos should not be supported in Victoria. The Government decided no further assessment should be made as the matter was previously the subject of a detailed study that had shown the industry to be economically unviable.
Since then it has been Government policy not to support a commercial harvest of Kangaroos based on:
* Low densities of Kangaroos in Victoria.
* The cost of administrative checks and balances.
* Strong opposition from sectors of the community.
Victoria's terrain and vegetation cover makes accurate counting of Kangaroos very difficult and consequently nobody knows how many Kangaroos there are in Victoria.
Past Victorian Governments believed a commercial Kangaroo industry in Victoria was unviable and the Baillieu Government must be stopped from re-introducing this deplorable industry.
We the undersigned call on the Premier of Victoria Ted Baillieu and the Victorian Government to uphold the ban on on the commercial killing and use of wild Kangaroos in Victoria.
Not only is this industry unsustainable and un-Australian but it would bring danger into our bushland where recreational visitors should be safe.
The industry is known for its inhumane treatment of Kangaroos from misfired shots, orphaned young, stress on family mobs through lights and noise, cruel disposal of Joeys and the compromisation of the genetic integrity of the gene pool.
Instead of researching the viability of introducing a commercial industry, there needs be be a Parliamentary Inquiry into the number of ATCW's permits granted and why so many Kangaroo carcasses are 'wasted' in the first place.
The ban on a commercial industry was introduced by the Cain Government in 1982, reasons cited were:
* The industry was economically unviable.
* Low densities of Kangaroos in Victoria.
* Administrative costs.
* Strong opposition from sectors of the community.
* Due to the terrain and vegetation in Victoria, accurate counting is extremely difficult.
* There are no population estimates for Kangaroo numbers in Victoria.
Nothing has changed since the introduction of the ban.
To introduce a commercial industry into Victoria which is viable many hundreds of thousands of Kangaroos would need to be killed and with their low densities the Kangaroo population in Victoria would be decimated in only a few years.
The DON'T ALLOW VICTORIA TO BECOME A KILLING FIELD FOR KANGAROOS petition to The Victorian Government was written by Australian Wildlife Protection Council and is in the category Animal Welfare at GoPetition.