Pressure is mounting on the Victorian Government to halt this year’s duck hunting season.
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.
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.
“I’ve seen what shooters do and this has got to stop,” she said.
“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?”
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.
“My expectations are that Mary-Anne will commit to a ban on duck shooting,” Ms Tranter said.
“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.
“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.
Local paramedic Ward Young has met with Ms Thomas several times to lobby on this issue.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
Despite the growing campaign to have duck hunting banned, Ms Thomas said the government had no plans to do so.
“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.
“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.”
Recreational duck hunting is banned in NSW, Queensland and Western Australia.
The Victorian GMA will soon give its recommendations to the state government about how the 2021 season should operate.
Local animal welfare campaigners urge other concerned residents to write to Ms Thomas to express their concern.
