By Perry Duffin
A man has allegedly shot almost 100 kangaroos with a rifle at an army base north of Sydney, sparking a police investigation into the latest case of alleged animal cruelty reported in NSW in just weeks.
The 98 kangaroos were found dead, along with boxes of ammunition and spent cartridges, at Singleton army base in the Hunter Valley on October 8.
A rifle allegedly used by a 43-year-old man to shoot dead 98 kangaroos near Singleton, in the Hunter Valley.Credit: NSW Police
The Hunter’s rural crime prevention team tracked the alleged shooter to a home in Williamtown, north of Newcastle, and raided the property on Friday.
They allegedly found firearms that were not securely stored and confiscated a number of weapons from a second Hunter property.
The 43-year-old man was charged with aggravated cruelty on an animal, firing guns in Commonwealth areas, trespassing and offences related to unsafe storage of firearms.
He was bailed ahead of a court hearing in Raymond Terrace on January 13, and his gun licence has been suspended.
The alleged slaughter of the kangaroos is the latest animal cruelty case reported in NSW in recent weeks.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
NSW Police on Sunday announced they were investigating a separate case of animal cruelty after 29 chickens were killed at a high school in the Illawarra region.
The chickens were being kept in a large, secure pen on the grounds of the agricultural school Corrimal High and were probably killed on Friday evening.
“It is clear this was not the act of a fox or a feral cat. These chickens were well cared for by the facility, and for someone to do this is beyond belief,” Inspector Allison Guthrie said.
In yet another case, two beloved ducks at Murrumburrah High School were found killed and mutilated on Thursday.
“Overnight, individuals gained unauthorised access to our school grounds and tortured, mutilated and killed our school ducks,” the school said in a statement.
Elizabeth and Philip, the royally named and very rare Saxony ducks, were reportedly beheaded after someone entered their enclosure.
“These animals have been subjected to a horrific act of cruelty,” acting Inspector Mark Lake said.
“It is clear that the ducks were well cared for by the facility, and for someone to do this is beyond belief.”
Philip and Elizabeth, the Saxony ducks, were beheaded in their enclosure. Credit: ABC News
Last month, a 20-year-old man was ordered to appear in Manly Local Court accused of running over kangaroos in his ute at Running Stream, outside Lithgow, in July.
Leo Boland, from Balgowlah Heights, did not appear in court to answer charges of torture, beating and seriously injuring animals after he allegedly ran down adult and baby kangaroos deliberately.
His acts were allegedly captured on CCTV.
None of the incidents are related.
Animal cruelty offences almost never result in prison time, the Bureau of Crime Research and Statistics says.
Between 132 and 170 offenders have been sentenced each year for the past five years, but only 4.2 per cent have gone to prison.
Instead, the local courts hand down fines in 36.5 per cent of cases and unsupervised community release in a further 34.6 per cent of cases.
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