Wildlife sanctuary owners put down injured wallany
A couple who run a wildlife sactuary near the bushfire-hit town of Cobargo say they were “horrified” to have a complaint made against them after putting a wallaby to sleep.
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A wildlife carer couple say they were reported to animal welfare authorities for euthanising a badly-burnt wallaby in the wake of the bushfire disaster.
Sara Tilling and Gary Henderson lost almost everything when fire tore through their Cobargo Wildlife Sanctuary on New Year’s Eve.
The couple, who were away at the time, returned the next day to discover their home destroyed, while some of the 150 kangaroos, wallabies and wombats who usually roamed the 350ha haven were injured.
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Among them was a wallaby so badly burnt it had to be put down. Ms Tilling said she was horrified when an Animal Welfare League officer later turned up in response to a complaint.
“We found an absolutely horrifically burnt, still-alive wallaby,” Ms Tilling said.
“We had a visit from Animal Welfare in regards to the fact we had to euthanise it, which I found absolutely horrendous. We’re wildlife carers, we dedicate our entire existence to ensuring the survival of these guys, so (to have to) euthanise an animal under those circumstances was absolutely horrific.
“And then for people to ring and complain — what was humane, leaving it to suffer? You’re in the middle of a disaster zone.”
No action was taken against the couple, who have spent the past two months living in a caravan caring for 11 orphaned joeys. Ms Willing, who campaigns against how kangaroos are slaughtered to be used in pet food, said little government funding had yet reached the area since the fires.
“They talked about wildlife feed drops — we haven’t seen one thing down here,” she said. “We haven’t dropped our care to our roos even though we’re living out of a caravan and we’ve had absolutely nothing.”