SUBMISSION ON THE DRAFT NATIONAL CODE OF PRACTICE FOR THE HUMANE SHOOTING OF KANGAROOS AND WALLABIES

Transcription

1 SUBMISSION ON THE DRAFT NATIONAL CODE OF PRACTICE FOR THE HUMANE SHOOTING OF KANGAROOS AND WALLABIES March 2008 Voiceless Limited ACN Paddington Street Paddington NSW 2021 P F Disclaimer: Voiceless Limited ACN ( Voiceless ) is a company limited by guarantee. Voiceless is not a legal practice and does not give legal advice to individuals or organisations. While Voiceless makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of information presented on its behalf, Voiceless does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of that information. Information is provided by Voiceless as general information only and any use of or reliance on it should only be undertaken on a strictly voluntary basis after an independent review by a qualified legal practitioner (or other expert). Voiceless is not responsible for, and disclaims all liability for, any loss or damage arising out of the use of or reliance on information it provides. To learn more about Voiceless, please visit Voiceless envisions a world in which animals are treated with respect and compassion Page 1 of 6

2 ABOUT VOICELESS As an innovator, capacity builder and ideas-generator, Voiceless plays a leading role in the development of a cutting edge social justice movement, animal protection. With a highly professional and well-educated team, Voiceless brings together like-minded compassionate Australians from the legal, academic, non-profit and education sectors to form strong and effective networks. Voiceless believes in the provision of quality information, analysis and resources to inspire debate and discussion and to empower individuals and organisations to generate positive social change. Voiceless is a non-profit Australian organisation established in May 2004 by father and daughter team Brian and Ondine Sherman. To build and fortify the animal protection movement, Voiceless: gives grants to key projects which create the groundswell for social change; cultivates the animal law community through the provision of leadership, educational opportunities and resources; and raises awareness of animal protection issues within the education system in order to strengthen democratic skills, promote critical thinking and encourage advocacy amongst students. PATRONSTRONS J.M. COETZEE, Nobel Prize for Literature Winner 2003, author of 'Lives of Animals' and 'Elizabeth Costello' BRIAN SHERMAN AM, businessman and philanthropist AMBASSADOR HUGO WEAVING, Actor The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Matrix Trilogy, Lord of the Rings Trilogy ANIMAL CLUB AMBASSADOR ABBIE CORNISH, Actor Somersault, Candy, A Good Year For further information visit All correspondence in relation to this submission should be directed to: Ms Katrina Sharman Voiceless 2 Paddington Street Paddington NSW 2021 AUSTRALIA T: F: e.mail ksharman@voiceless.org.au March 2008 Page 2

3 1 Introduction 1.1 In the last ten years, approximately 30 million kangaroos and wallabies have been lawfully killed in Australia, 1 representing the largest kill of land-based animals on earth. 2 In 2005 alone, more than 3 million kangaroos and wallabies were slaughtered. 3 That figure does not include the countless numbers of kangaroos and wallabies injured, orphaned, predated or left to die of hypothermia as a result of the hunting process. Nor does it include those kangaroos killed and injured for non-commercial purposes. 1.2 Voiceless is opposed to the killing of kangaroos and wallabies for commercial and noncommercial purposes due to the pain and suffering associated with hunting. In our Submission, the current regulatory framework for kangaroo and wallaby culling sanctions and facilitates staggering levels of animal cruelty. 1.3 This Submission is not intended to provide an exhaustive commentary of the deficiencies in the Draft National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies ( the Code ) or the Code process. Voiceless has however taken this opportunity to comment on a number of aspects of the Code, as set out below. We have done so because in our view the Code is part of a framework designed to assure Australians that the welfare of their national icon is being addressed, when in fact the suffering of these animals remains widespread and sanctioned in law. 2 Animal protection groups have not endorsed the contents of the Code 2.1 The Preface to the Code suggests that the Code is the result of a collaborative effort entered into by Australian State and Territory government authorities responsible for kangaroo management and welfare, the kangaroo industry and animal protection groups. This may be correct insofar as a Working Group comprised of those stakeholders was formed to discuss the Code; however it is not fair to suggest that the Code represents a consensus of any kind. For example: in an article that appeared in The Canberra Times earlier this year, it was noted that Dr Bidda Jones of the RSPCA, despite being a member of the working group reviewing the shooting code had been unable to influence its development. The article further notes that according to Dr Jones, RSPCA Australia is very much a lone voice for animal welfare within the working group 4 ; the Animals Australia website states in relation to the draft Code that it does little to protect the welfare of kangaroos and wallabies, but rather sanctions the abhorrently cruel massacre of our national icon despite strong opposition from animal protection groups including Animals Australia and the RSPCA. 5 1 Australian Government Department of the Environment, Heritage, Water & The Arts, Kangaroo and Wallaby Harvesting Statistics , < at 4 March Linde, R Kangaroo Killing For the Flesh and Skin Trade, Kangaroos Myths and Realities, Australian Wildlife Protection Council, Melbourne 2006, Australian Government Department of the Environment, Heritage, Water & The Arts, Commercial Kangaroo Harvesting Statistics 2005, < >at 4 March Rosslyn Beeby, New Roo Code Targets Joeys, The Canberra Times, 5 January 2008 < 5 Animals Australia, New Code Sanctions Animal Cruelty, at 4 March Voiceless envisions a world in which animals are treated with respect and compassion Page 3 of 6

4 3 The Code has no clout 3.1 As the Code takes the form of a voluntary Code of Practice, its provisions are not mandatory, except to the extent that they are incorporated in State or Territory law. In essence, this means that: the Code represents a mere aspirational statement which relies for its performance on the good faith of commercial and non-commercial kangaroo hunters; and compliance with the Code s provisions cannot be monitored nor enforcement assessed in any meaningful fashion. 3.2 The only incentive for promoting compliance is a requirement in State and Territory law for commercial shooters to ensure that animals whose carcasses they intend to sell have been shot in accordance with the Code. 6 While this may facilitate a degree of compliance for commercial killing purposes, it leaves open the possibility that large numbers of animals are being subjected to drawn-out, painful deaths when they are killed in a manner that does not comply with the Code and in the interests of economic expediency, are abandoned. 3.3 In addition to the Code s legal status as a toothless tiger, Voiceless is of the view that there are substantial practical obstacles to ensuring Code compliance. For example, commercial kangaroo shooting is generally conducted at night in remote areas. 7 Monitoring and compliance is virtually impossible to measure and enforce in these circumstances. 8 While the Code seeks to achieve a rapid death through instantaneous loss of consciousness by (in most cases) a shot to the head, the head of a kangaroo is a small target and in the words of a former kangaroo shooter: Such accuracy is only obtained in Olympic shooting where the shooter is fit and healthy, has slept well, has a solid rest to place his firearm and most importantly, the target is clearly defined, well lit, accurately distanced and does not move at the critical moment It seems fair to accept that shooter s words that there will be cases where the mouth, forearms, ears, eyes and nose of kangaroos have been blown off. 10 In such situations the animal may die a slow and painful death of shock, starvation or injury. Although there are no statistics available, it is estimated that deaths of this nature may amount to hundreds of thousands each year The Code condones cruelty 4.1 Irrespective of whether one accepts that the methods of killing prescribed by the Code cause animals to suffer unnecessarily, it is clear that the Code accepts and sanctions the suffering of animals during the killing process. For example: the Code states that the shooter must aim so as to hit the target kangaroo or wallaby in the brain. 12 If the animal dies instantaneously (which cannot be assured, as suggested above) this is considered a humane death, though not one without suffering. 6 Australian Government Department of the Environment, Heritage, Water & The Arts, Draft National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies, Third Edition, 10 September 2007, clause 3. 7 Oogjes, G Band-Aid Code Will Not Stop Joey Cruelty Only an End to the Practices Will Do That in Kangaroos Myths and Realities, Above n 2, ibid, Nicholls, D The Kangaroo Falsely Maligned by Tradition in Kangaroos Myths and Realities, Above n 2, ibid. 11 Animals Australia, New Code Sanctions Animal Cruelty, Above n Draft National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies, Above n 6, cl 2.5. Page 4

5 the Code affords little protection to pouch young and dependent joeys at foot, who are required to be efficiently disposed of (as a humane measure) when their mother is killed. The methods prescribed by the Code as humane killing methods are so barbaric that they would clearly constitute breaches of anticruelty legislation were they to be perpetrated upon a wide range of other species, including companion animals. In this instance we refer to the recommended methods of killing such as: (i) (ii) for small furred pouch young: euthanasia by heavy blow to the head with force sufficient to crush the skull and destroy the brain (by a steel water pipe or the tow bar of a vehicle, for example) 13 ; or for small furless pouch young: decapitation by rapidly severing the head from the body with a sharp blade The Code overlooks the capacity of kangaroos and wallabies to suffer 5.1 Although kangaroos and wallabies have the same capacity to suffer irrespective of whether they are being killed for commercial, non-commercial or scientific purposes, the Code clearly sanctions different degrees of animal suffering, depending on the context in which the animal is being hunted. For example: The use of shotguns for the commercial shooting of kangaroos and wallabies is prohibited in all jurisdictions, presumably due to the inability of shotguns to ensure an accurate shot resulting in the instantaneous death of an a kangaroo or wallaby. Shotguns are not however universally prohibited when the target animal is being killed for non-commercial purposes. 15 While commercial kangaroo and wallaby shooters are required to pass a competency test before they are permitted to begin shooting, the matter of imposing competency tests on non-commercial shooters is left to State and Territory Government Authorities discretion. 16 This leaves open the possibility of non-commercial or recreational kangaroo shooters with a lower skill set, resulting in widespread suffering to their target animals. 5.2 Given the above, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the Code has no genuine interest in protecting kangaroos or wallabies and that it is largely a product of the Government s animal welfare window dressing. 6 The Code impairs our moral authority 6.1 While many Australians are concerned about scientific whaling and dolphin massacres 17 in Japan and the killing of seals in Canada 18, few are aware that one of the largest instances of wildlife slaughter on earth is taking place in their own backyard. However, rather than educating people about the suffering of kangaroos, the Code serves to reinforce the misplaced notion that Australia is an international animal welfare leader. 13 Draft National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies, Above n 6, cl ibid. 15 Draft National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies, Above n 6, cl Draft National Code of Practice for the Humane Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies, Above n 6, cl 3.1 and See for example, Australian Federal Court orders stop to Japanese Whale Hunt, HSI Legal Battle for Whales, Humane Society International, < at 4 March 2008; Leah Creighton, Stop Cruel Dolphin Slaughter The Daily Telegraph, < at 4 March Humane Society International, Seal Hunt Closes < at 4 March Page 5

6 6.2 In our submission: (c) the Government s endorsement of the shooting of kangaroos and wallabies through the Code, demonstrates that any claim to international animal welfare leadership is hollow; if the Federal Government was truly to provide moral leadership in the area of animal protection, it would recognise that there is no place for a Code of Practice which reinforces the barbaric and largely hidden slaughter of millions of animals every year. It is clear that the Code weakens Australia s moral authority and impedes its ability to take a meaningful stance against the killing of animals in international forums. The fact that the kangaroo is a national icon and Australia s most recognised tourist symbol, makes the Government s complicity with the kangaroo industry all the more astounding. 6.3 In our submission, the Code should be repealed and kangaroo killing, both commercial and non-commercial, should be declared unlawful. Page 6