Petition Agaist Australian Cull Of Brumbies

[Cobnut1]

Right, there's now a petition to the governing body of Queensland, Australia, against the aerial cull of brumbies. This is conducted by army snipers in helicopters.

Imagine the scene with a herd of wild horses ... Numbers need to be controlled, but is this the right way to do it, leaving horses dead and injured in the bush? Foals orphaned and starving? And this is a progressive country still in mourning for a lost conservationist ...

It surely cannot be justified, when the opportunity exists to extract family groups, gently work with the horses and rehome them.

Please sign and add your comments. And please do post this on other boards you visit. Thanks!

http://www.petitiononline.com/STBrumby/petition.html

 

[Cobnut1]

Hi guys, Sorry another petition thread, this time on the way the Aussie's cull thier wild horses. they usually do this from a helicopter and trying to get into firing range, but often than not they only maim the animal leaving it to die a painfull and slow death.

Please sign.

 

[Doreys_Mum]

They do it to deer in scotland, but people only give a damn about brumbies...

Sorry, but imho, horses can be as much as pest as anything else when they're wild, and need culling.

If they're not culled, they herd them into sales where the stress levels are significantly higher... many are bought for slaughter... so their stress levels sour...

It's kinda to let them get shot.

 

[Cobnut1]

Maybe but not from the air.... the least they could do is shoot with a sedative then finish the job properly. I didn't mention is that these horse are in a "park" situation and can easily be caught and tamed and rehomed, as is what they have been doing, for a while now, but other places need to start.

 

[Olliedog]

[ QUOTE ]
Foals orphaned and starving?

[/ QUOTE ]
The thing is, a lot of brumbies are already starving as it is, since we're in the middle of one of the worst droughts in decades, and with summer approaching it certainly won't get any better. While rehoming them sounds like a nice idea, as I said before, summer is coming, and it will be bad enough feeding the horses people already have without the addition of any extras. Not all brumbies adapt to domestic life.Perhaps they do need to work on a new method of culling, but despite the brumbies being in a park, many areas are difficult to access, so helicopter is the best option.
[ QUOTE ]
And this is a progressive country still in mourning for a lost conservationist

[/ QUOTE ]
Considering the damage brumbies do to the environment, I doubt Steve Irwin would feel all that sympathetic.

 

[janecl]

The Australian RSPCA successfully sued the parks service in NSW for cruelty following the 2000 cull in the Dorrigo National Park. This method is NOT efficient. In Dorrigo, horses are now humanely and passively trapped - lured into pens with food. What is so difficult about that? I daresay it costs a little extra money as it will take extra time. It's not whether numbers need controlling that is the issue here, although in NSW an adoption program is in place.

I'd urge anyone who is interested to read the stories themselves. I'll pop back later with more details.

 

[Cobnut1]

Thanks Janecl........

 

[Fairynuff]

Ive signed. M.

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

Have signed and commented!

 

[janecl]

The Save the Brumbies charity are currently approaching Steve Irwin's conservation charity amongst other welfare groups. They are not on opposite sides of the fence.

In reply to the conservation counter-argument, I'd like to quote the local press release ...

>> Bill Hankin, a local whose property near Rollingstone borders the adjacent Clemont State Forest, has lived in the area all his life and grew up with brumbies. To him the horses are a part of Australian life and history and have actually helped both the military and local land owners in many ways. As descendants of the famous Whaler horses of the Light Horse Brigade they fought valiantly for the country. And he insists that the horses have assisted in bushfire control by keeping grass height down.

>> Hankin and his son, Bill Jr, do not believe that the horses are causing as much damage to the environment as did the previous period of cattle grazing and use by both the Australian and US Military. During World War II, the Americans established one of the largest munitions dumps, with vehicle tracks and other land degradation still in evidence. Cattle, too, established tracks and the Hankins are of the opinion that the horses are being blamed for land erosion that they did not cause but only utilize. The brumbies, they maintain, follow the easy road by using existing tracks but then are accused of causing the damage.

>> Interestingly, the Hankins say they have had many phone calls from people interested in having a brumby. But it is beyond most people’s capability to just go out and get one. Professional musterers and purpose built yards are required. Then, maybe, homes will be found and a win-win situation with National Parks can be found.

>> Indeed, this model is proving successful in NSW where groups such as Save the Brumbies have been working with NSW National Parks and Wildlife to passively trap the animals and find homes for them.

Can I also point out that the numbers are not huge - certainly no more than could easily be adopted into the domestic horse population. With appropriate and sensitive handling, the vast majority of these horses assimilate well.

Note: I have full press releases if anybody wishes to extend media coverage on this issue. Please do get in touch.

 

[Tia]

[ QUOTE ]
Can I also point out that the numbers are not huge

[/ QUOTE ]

So what are the numbers?

 

[janecl]

Again from the press information:

>> In 2000, over 600 wild horses were shot from helicopter during a cull in the Guy Fawkes National Park in northern New South Wales. Worldwide condemnation and efforts by people like Jan Carter from Save the Brumbies helped to set up a humane method of managing horses in national parks. Now in Queensland history repeats itself, but on a scale and situation that seems even graver.

>> In November 2005 and again in April 2006, using helicopters and sniper shot, the Australian Army killed a total of 1300 wild horses in the High Range military reserve, leaving them to rot or even worse die from wounds and starvation. A similar shoot for a remaining 275 horses in the adjacent Clemont State Forest is scheduled for November this year. Details of the events were recently published in the Townsville Bulletin where journalist Terry Butts revealed that Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Ross Domin confirmed that $20K has been set aside for the upcoming cull.

 

[GTs]

It is an Australian issue, not one I think anyone outside Australia shoud participate in. How would you like India getting all upset about how cows are treated in England.

 

[Doreys_Mum]

Agreed GTs.

Okay, so maybe they could do the cull kinder... but they SHOULD go ahead with it - because (as no one has yet addressed!) the suffering the horses would go through at sales, the only alternative, would be so much higher!

No animal lover would subject them to that surely?

 

[janecl]

No sales are involved in any adoption programme.

Involvement in any campaign is a matter of personal choice, as is non-involvement.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Another person burying their head in the sand....If it isn't happening on my doorstep so I'll ignore it?

 

[Doreys_Mum]

[ QUOTE ]
No sales are involved in any adoption programme.

Involvement in any campaign is a matter of personal choice, as is non-involvement.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, whatever... they will get sold at markets, like english wild ponies, and like english wild ponies, they will suffer for it.

Wild horses don't have stables with haynets. they STARVE. What use is saving the mother from a sniper if she's dead in a few weeks anyway? What good will that do her foal? And if it does survive, it will be small and weak, and who would want to adopt that?

Stop living with your heads in the sand. I wish english wild ponies were culled like mustangs and brumbies.

 

[Cobnut1]

[ QUOTE ]
It is an Australian issue, not one I think anyone outside Australia shoud participate in. How would you like India getting all upset about how cows are treated in England.

[/ QUOTE ]

The original person who posted this on another forum IS australian..... and thought that the people with whom she converses with would love horses enough to help the horses in another country........

can i just remind you, that it is a British Charity that run the clinic in Cairo to help the cruelty/negligence that is sustained by owners there. Ok so they Egyptians may not look after the horses in the way we do, but not letting them drink water is also cruel, and it is these little things that can be done, it doesn't take too much time letting Neddy have a drink, and now they are getting treated for their harness sores also..

 

[janecl]

Thanks everyone - the petition numbers are steadily rising, with names being added from America and European countries.

If you share our outrage at inhumane slaughter methods, pleae visit the petition and add your name. If you don't wish to, then that's fine - thank you for taking the time to read this.

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?STBrumby&1