The Hon. Mark Banasiak, Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party MLC, Media Release, 18 December 2023
SFF is calling on the Minister for Agriculture to refer the inhumane actions of the National Parks and Wildlife Service during aerial culling trials over Kosciuszko National Park to NSW Police for investigation.
In a letter drafted to the Minister, Mr Banasiak referenced the recent supplementary Budget Estimates hearing where Mr Scott Hansen, Director General, and Ms Kim Filmer, Chief Animal Welfare Officer, Department of Primary Industries, agreed that chasing an animal for several hundred yards whilst delivering as many as 15 shots into it, to induce enough bleeding to euthanise the animal, would be a reportable offence under the POCTA Act.
A recent report was commissioned into the aerial culling of 277 horses entitled “Animal Welfare Assessment of Feral Horse Aerial Shooting Kosciuszko National Park.” Page 6 of this report details “a total of 2032 shots were fired, ranging from 3–15 shots fired at each horse, with a mean of 7.5 shots.”
The report goes on to further read “Many TTI observations could not be assigned an exact value because the position of the observer in the helicopter prevented them from observing and definitively inferring the moment of onset of an animal’s insensibility.” In other words, the independent observer was not able to confirm if the horse’s demise was swift, or if they suffered.
“Responsible Conservation Hunters are bound by a Code of Ethics in dealing with the humane dispatch of pest animals. Ethics and a moral compass dictate that any more than a single, or two shots at most, would be considered inhumane” Mr Banasiak said. SFF hold grave concerns regarding the information contained within the report.
The RPSCA’s own definition of humane reads “when an animal is either killed instantly or rendered insensible until death ensues, without pain, suffering or distress.”
Mr Banasiak further stated, “Considering the report was prepared by the RSPCA, this brings into question the RSPCA’s ability to independently arbitrate and their continuing role as an authority under the Act. One would assume the independent assessor would voice concerns when their lack of visibility became apparent, and the ensuing barrage of bullets followed.”
