Gippy Goat thief fined for obstructing duck hunters

Animal activist Cara Jade Garrett — who was fined $1 for biosecurity offences in 2019 — fronted court again this week for offences against duck hunters. See the outcome.

More than three years after being fined $1 for breaking biosecurity laws after stealing livestock from the Gippy Goat Cafe, Cara Jade Garrett has been forced to front court again.

This time Ms Garrett pleaded guilty in Warrnambool Magistrates’ Court to two public safety offences committed on the opening weekend of Victoria’s 2019 duck hunting season at Lake Struan State Game Reserve.

Ms Garrett was fined $400 and was placed on a good behaviour bond until December 21, for offences including unlawfully entering a specified hunting area and approaching a person within 10 metres who is hunting.

At the time of the offence hunters allege Ms Garrett was the voice behind a video on her Facebook page on the March 16 duck season opening, under the name Kara Jade.

The video was filmed by two unidentified women who confronted hunter Brett Kirby as he retrieved and attempted to dispatch a wounded duck from Lake Struan. One of the women screams at him it’s “still alive, kill them (sic) now, or I’ll come and take them (sic) out of your f … ing hands.”

A fellow hunter, Kev Gommers, took footage of the pair before they entered Lake Struan to confront Mr Kirby. The footage shows one activist with her face covered, while the other looks directly at the camera and appears to be Ms Garrett.

Ms Garrett was on a six-month good behaviour bond at the time of the Lake Struan incident, after she and about 70 activists stormed Yarragon’s Gippy Goat Cafe in 2018, ¬stealing three goats and a lamb.

A GMA spokesman said “public safety laws are in place to protect the broader community, hunters, authorised officers and those who oppose duck hunting themselves.

“There are significant penalties for people who unlawfully enter in, or remain on a specified hunting area, or interfere with, obstruct, hinder or harass hunters.”

GMA Game Officers, Victoria Police and other authorised officers from partner agencies will be active throughout private and public land across the state to ensure people act safely and responsibly during the 2022 duck season, which opens on Wednesday March 16.

Hunters and the public are urged to report public safety and illegal hunting offences to the GMA through its website www.gma.vic.gov.au or the Customer Contact Centre on 136 186, or by contacting Victoria Police.