The owners of a Pastoria East wildlife shelter have closed their doors after 30 years because they believe the risk to kangaroos released from their care is too great.
A neighbouring farmer, whose permit to cull kangaroos was suspended in June after claims of cruelty, had his permit reinstated by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning [DELWP] last week.
Authorities suspended the man’s permit to shoot kangaroos on his property after being slammed for the way the native animals were being culled.
An investigation was launched after at least 24 kangaroos were shot, with groups including the Macedon Ranges Wildlife Network claiming none of the kangaroos had been shot in the head, as decreed by the national code of practice.
Pastoria East Wildlife Shelter operators Marcus Ward and Christine Litchfield are calling for the DELWP investigating team to be stood down.
Mr Ward said thousands of dollars had been spent on the kangaroos’ rehabilitation.
“We are devastated,” he said. “We’ve been running the shelter for 30 years. We’ve had to shut our doors this week because we can’t be taking animals in when there is a danger they could be killed.
“We are shocked at this blatant abrogation of responsibility by DELWP. What sort of a message does this send to other landholders who want to cull kangaroos … that cruelty issues are not taken seriously?
“At the very least, we expected DELWP to revoke the permit for this breach of the code.”
The pair has vowed to do everything possible to stop the culling of kangaroos.
“We’ve been trying to engage the farmer to pursue non-lethal methods of control, but neither the department nor the council is listening to us,” Mr Ward said.
“We believe the department and the council are 100 per cent focused on culling. The process is very skewed towards the permit holder, and we see no considerations for us as a wildlife shelter. There’s no appeals process.”
The DELWP probe, which wound up on July 19, found insufficient evidence and no legal basis to prosecute the farmer.
A spokesman said all non-lethal methods of control had been exhausted.
The farmer’s permit was reinstated with extra conditions that require him to engage a professional shooter, give DELWP 48 hours’ notice before shootings start, and to properly document the shootings afterwards.
