Animal activist Cara Garrett accused of threatening duck shooter
HUNTERS claim Gippy Goat Cafe thief and animal activist Cara Garrett has abused and threatened a duck shooter.
HUNTERS claim Gippy Goat Cafe thief and animal activist Cara Garrett has abused and threatened a duck shooter.
HUNTERS claim Gippy Goat Cafe thief and animal activist Cara Garrett has abused and threatened a duck shooter.
Hunters believe Ms Garrett may be the voice behind a video she posted on her Facebook page on the March 16 duck season opening, under the pseudonym Kara Jade.
The video was filmed by two unidentified women who confront hunter Brett Kirby as he retrieved and attempted to dispatch a wounded duck from waist-deep waters on 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.”
The Geelong boilermaker said he was appalled by the threat to “effectively steal” his bird and the offensive language, especially with his 14-year-old son within earshot.
“She and her friend were within arm’s reach so I turned my back on her to break its (the duck’s) neck,” Mr Kirby said.
Victoria’s Wildlife Act states it is an “offence to approach a person who is hunting during an open season for duck, a person must not approach to within a distance of 10 metres or less from a person who is carrying a firearm or hunting or taking game birds in a specified hunting area”.
The offence carries a maximum penalty of $9671.40.
“I was mortified. I had to go back to talk to my son and explain everything was all right.”
One of the activists had her face covered, but Mr Kirby claimed the other woman was Ms Garrett based on images he had seen on her Facebook page and Instagram feed.
“She is Cara or Kara Jade,” Mr Kirby said.
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.
Mr Gommers said that after taking the footage he witnessed the pair enter the water to confront and film Mr Kirby.
“My son and I witnessed them come within a couple of metres of him (Mr Kirby),” Mr Gommers said.
However Ms Garrett has refused to say if she was on the lake producing the video, nor confirm it was her voice screaming at Mr Kirby.
She told The Weekly Times: “Yes that was a post I shared. I’m not saying whether it was me or not.
“I’m prepared to sue The Weekly Times for defamation if they print an article again involving my name and false information.”
Ms Garrett’s refusal to confirm her involvement in the video comes despite her posting it on her Facebook page with the statement: “This duck had be (sic) shot multiple times and was suffering. I wanted them to be put out of their suffering straight away so the hunters didn’t further prolong their suffering.”
Asked if she was aware it was an offence to come within 10 metres of a duck hunter carrying a firearm, Ms Garrett stated: “Am I aware or do I care is the question.”
The Weekly Times readers can decide if Ms Garrett made the video or not by watching it and two others below.
Victoria’s Game Management Authority is investigating the case and has taken witness statements from hunters.
Ms Garrett is on a six-month good behaviour bond, after she and about 70 activists stormed Yarragon’s Gippy Goat Cafe on the weekend before Christmas, stealing three goats and a lamb.
Ms Garrett was found guilty in the Latrobe Valley Magistrates’ Court without conviction of both biosecurity-related offences, as well as theft and failing to comply with police directions.
She was fined for removing an identifying ear tag from a stolen goat and a further $1 for housing livestock without a Property Identification Code and ordered to pay $250 compensation for the theft.
Both offences carry maximum penalties of $9671.40 under the Livestock Disease Control Act.
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