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Senator Barnaby Joyce 12 March 2008 “I welcome Sir Paul McCartney, Joanna Lumley, Chrissie Hynde and the organisation Viva, out to muster the kangaroos at Belconnen and anywhere else they care, to take them back with them to England. What do they believe is the fate of the kangaroos without a cull, a sublime retirement in the Autumn Macropod Villa? “The fate of wildlife not killed by a cull is death by disease or starvation which maybe more “natural” but, I would suggest, vastly more inhumane than a professional cull. “It may not be politically correct to state the obvious, but culling with a rifle by professional and licensed kangaroo shooters is the most viable way of affecting a control of numbers. If I can be so bold as to suggest a kangaroo, oblivious to a threat, cleanly shot in the paddock has a better death than suffering the trauma of being herded, tranquilised and then killed by lethal injection. Unfortunately, kangaroos, like all other life on this planet, will at some stage die and that is a reality which should be foremost in people’s minds when talking about these issues. “If, as Australia, we do not make a stand against the illogical but well meaning emotions of groups such as Viva, then it will make the operation of farming land in some areas impossible. Also, the safety of drivers is jeopardised by impacts with animals on roads adjacent to wildlife. The welfare of the animals, in general, deteriorates over an extended and painful period as they die in large numbers in times of stress, such as drought. “Like the cessation of mulesing sheep, leaving the sheep more prone to death by being eaten alive by maggots, this short sighted emotion is, in the long term, a far crueller outcome for the animal.” Senator Joyce said. |
Joyce calls for reality check on cull