Animal activists protest against proposed Inglewood kangaroo abattoir
Animal activists say a proposal to turn kangaroos into pet food at an unused abattoir in Central Victoria could spread infection.
Bendigo
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A plan to turn kangaroos into pet food at an unused Inglewood abattoir has riled animal activists who say the national emblem should be protected.
Campaspe Meat Company has applied to reopen the slaughterhouse as a drop-off point for kangaroos to be turned into fresh meat for cats, dogs and zoo animals.
The application has been lodged with Loddon Shire Council for a licenced wild game pet meat processing facility at the Dunolly-Inglewood Rd property.
Campaspe Meat Company said the proposed facility would hire up to 10 on-site workers and 10 harvesters, while providing a service to farmers and hunters.
The facility will bone and skin carcasses of roos, deer and other wild game, while the processing and packaging will happen at another site.
It will be able to hold up to 1200 carcasses with shooters able to drop off their catch 24 hours a day.
Campaspe Meat Company said the processing facility would smell no worse than a retail butcher.
The application said it would support Inglewood’s economy and diversify the agricultural sector, which it said was the “economic foundation of the shire”.
But the application has been met with fierce backlash from wildlife groups across Bendigo.
Central Victorian wildlife careers and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have both launched petitions calling for the application to be rejected.
Bendigo Wildlife Rescue and Information Network committee member Michelle Mead said a monitored shoot-to-kill policy would overwhelm local animal shelters, produce health risks, and jeopardise kangaroo populations.
Ms Mead said the kangaroo meat industry caused unnecessary suffering for the wild animals it killed.
She said injured roos were left to die slowly from their injuries, while there were few protections for joeys.
“These are not farmed animals, but wild ones,” Ms Mead said.
“How is that (hunting) monitored and policed?”
Ms Mead said WRIN’s 40 volunteers and wildlife rescue shelters were already stretched to the limit, but the meat industry threatened to overwhelm the carers with the orphaned joeys.
“Mum’s been killed and the joey is left alone,” she said.
She said most wildlife carers could not care for adult kangaroos, and many volunteers and veterinarians would be forced to euthanize the injured animals.
“The rescuers would need to euthanise them and do what the hunter wasn’t able to do,” she said.
“Wildlife is what we love and care about,” Ms Mead said.
Ms Mead said the hunting industry could harm the health of the roo population over time.
“They're going to target the big kangaroos, the alpha males,” she said.
“When you kill the alpha male you’re going to impact the whole gene pool.
“That's the kind of thing that makes a species go extinct.”
Ms Mead said the wild kangaroo meat meant there was a risk of infection from parasites and diseases, including toxoplasmosis, e-coli, salmonella and other pathogens.
She said the animals eating the pet food would be at most risk, but did not rule out health hazards for the meat workers.
“Viruses, as we are well aware, can jump from populations,” she said.
Ms Mead acknowledged many farmers considered the native animals as pests competing for their herd’s feed.
“This is all part of learning to live with wildlife … the clearing (of habitats) is why they’re in the way.”
“The solution can’t be ‘lets shoot them’.”
Ms Mead said she understood the desire to bring jobs to the rural area, but said the investment into tourism and the local environment was key to Inglewood’s future.
“We want the town to be known for something great, not killing wildlife,” she said.
A Friends of Mother Earth Incorporated petition has gained more than a thousand signatures, while PETA has launched a petition with almost 7000 supporters.
“Kangaroo hunters require a lethal shot to the head, but up to 40 per cent of commercially shot animals are hit in the neck or elsewhere on the body instead, causing prolonged and intense suffering,” it said.
“The Code of Practice also requires hunters to shoot ‘at-foot joeys’ and decapitate or ‘crush the skull and destroy the brain’ of pouch young, meaning that most joeys’ heads are swung and smashed against hunting vehicles to kill them.”
A Loddon Shire Council spokeswoman said the council was assessing this application and could not provide detailed comment on the economic impacts of the site, or the environmental, animal welfare and health hazard concerns.
She said council officers were preparing a report so councillors could consider the application at a later meeting.
Campaspe Meat Company was contacted but did not respond to questions.
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