Puckapunyal Military Massacre

Since 2002, the Australian Defence department has slaughtered close to 70,000 kangaroos and their joeys at the Puckapunyal army base in Victoria. They state that this is to protect the environment and the welfare of the kangaroos at Puckapunyal. However according to the defence department’s own Puckapunyal Kangaroo Management Plan (2008), shooting kangaroos does not change animal welfare outcomes nor improve the biodiversity of the base. Scientific vegetation monitoring at the base clearly shows that low rainfall and the impacts of sheep and cattle were to blame for environmental degradation, not the kangaroos.

On December 9th 2013 ASK received a tip off from an inside source that 6000 kangaroos and their joeys were being killed by the defence base. The informant stated that they were being killed inhumanely, without following animal welfare protocols, that joeys were being left to die, and that the defence department had set a bounty on the tail for all kangaroos shot. However this Victorian government sanctioned slaughter of 6000 kangaroos and their joeys this summer is clearly unfounded and without evidence and we fear it will result in the complete eradication of the remaining kangaroo population at Puckapunyal Military Base. The RSPCA is also opposed to this slaughter, and along with the Victorian Government animal advisory committee, was not consulted or informed of this cull. It was kept secret from the local community, the RSPCA and the Victorian public who have a right to know that their native wildlife are being slaughtered in this way.

You can read all about ASK’s attempts to stop this massacre at the news links below:

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/puckapunyal-kangaroo-cull-our-dirty-little-secret-activists-20131221-2zs5c.html

You can write to the Department of Environment and Primary Industries and the Defence department calling for an end to this cruel and unnecessary slaughter of protected native wildlife on public land on the grounds that there is no animal welfare or environmental evidence within their management plan nor the Puckapunyal vegetation assessment to support it.

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE
http://www.senatorjohnston.com.au/ContactDavid.aspx

MINISTER ENVIRONMENT- RYAN SMITH
http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/members/id/1661

You can also write to the RSPCA and urge them to intervene and suspend this unsupervised, unmonitored, unfounded and cruel slaughter of native wildlife until a full animal welfare assessment is made.
http://www.rspcavic.org/contact-us

You can also write to the Victorian Greens who have repeatedly voiced their opposition to kangaroo culls in Victoria, asking for their assistance to put an end to this brutal annihilation of our unique macropods who are an integral and key part of the native environment at Puckapunyal.
http://vic.greens.org.au/contacts