Pressure is mounting on the Victorian Government to halt this year’s duck hunting season.<\/p>\n
Macedon Ranges residents are joining a growing chorus of animal welfare campaigners calling on their local MP and new Minister for Agriculture Mary-Anne Thomas to hear their pleas.<\/p>\n
Helen Round from the East Trentham Wildlife Shelter has been a duck rescuer since 2009 and regularly attends the season opening at wetlands across the state.<\/p>\n
“I’ve seen what shooters do and this has got to stop,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Duck shooting conservatively has a wounding rate of at least one in every four birds, would Mary-Anne Thomas support an abattoir that wounds and releases 25 per cent of the animals that enter its doors?”<\/p>\n
Debra Tranter, founder of anti-puppy farm campaign Oscar’s Law, worked with the Labor government to strengthen animal welfare legislation and said she knew Labor’s commitment to animal welfare.<\/p>\n
“My expectations are that Mary-Anne will commit to a ban on duck shooting,” Ms Tranter said.<\/p>\n
“I’ve been going out to rescues every year since 1992 and the horrific cruelty is something that you never get used to, it shocks you every single year you go out.<\/p>\n
“I’ve personally rescued so many water birds, including swans, it’s quite devastating the cruelty and the damage that duck shooting does to our native wildlife,” she said.<\/p>\n
Local paramedic Ward Young has met with Ms Thomas several times to lobby on this issue.<\/p>\n
“I’m hopeful that Mary-Anne, now that’s she’s a minister, will do the right thing given this falls squarely within her remit,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I’ve worked with her as a local paramedic on ambulance issues and I know that she’s very motivated by justice and doing the right thing.<\/p>\n
“I have a lot of confidence that Mary-Anne will draw a line under duck shooting once and for all because it’s a cruel activity that we no longer need, it’s not sustainable and it’s completely unethical.”<\/p>\n
Despite the growing campaign to have duck hunting banned, Ms Thomas said the government had no plans to do so.<\/p>\n
“I await the Victorian Game Management Authority’s recommendations to government about the 2021 duck season, based on the most relevant and current information available to them,” she said.<\/p>\n
“It’s both mine and the GMA’s expectation that hunters abide by the conditions attached to their licence, and to act safely and responsibly at all times when hunting.”<\/p>\n
Recreational duck hunting is banned in NSW, Queensland and Western Australia.<\/p>\n
The Victorian GMA will soon give its recommendations to the state government about how the 2021 season should operate.<\/p>\n
Local animal welfare campaigners urge other concerned residents to write to Ms Thomas to express their concern.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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