Why were not such organisations notified by NPWS ??
It’s bad enough that there is no Government funding provided to assist rehoming groups take these Heritage Brumbies and find homes for them but that such groups are not even notified of NPWS intentions and the horses consigned to such cruel treatment is beyond belief. Yet NPWS will go to the media and state that captured horses are rehomed.

More lies from this present Government, how sad it is that horses don’t vote, we must make sure we do it for them next State election.

Jan Carter
CEO Save the Brumbies Inc.

Read the media report by the Macarthur Chronicle here.

Do visit http://www.whisperingacres.com.au/ and see firsthand the work of this outstanding horseman.Below are some highlights:

STB Adam says to Carlos:   “Hey, you’re bigger ‘n me, what are you doing up there” ?

Adam and Carlos getting to know one another

STB Adam calmly accepts Carlos on his back 

Carlos on STB Adam

Carlos gives his namesake, STB Little Carlos, a cuddle 

Carlos and Carlos

STB Team with Carlos:

Happy Trails - Carlos rides Guy Fawkes Stromlo

Left to right:   Lisa Burgess, Carlos Tabernaberri, Jan Carter, Sandy Radke 

The Australian Brumby Alliance website has further details including its latest Press Release and links to the Animals Australia Campaign and a petition against the cull.

STB urges you to visit the ABA site and TAKE ACTION NOW  click here

STB is disgusted that yet again, Government has not taken responsibility for implementing sustainable management.

The Sunshine State is raining blood, the blood of Australia’s Heritage Brumby horses in Carnarvon National Park.   2000 horses targeted for a cruel, agonising death at the hands of so called ‘trained’ park rangers with high powered rifles will die in April.   Foals will linger, lost, and die of starvation without their dams.

International concern and condemnation has resulted - and we are very grateful to the French animal welfare organisation Foundation Brigitte Bardot which has written to Queenland Premier Anna Bligh to protest and offer assistance to progress humane management techniques.  TO VIEW THE LETTER FROM BRIGITTE BARDOT Click Here and to go to the FBB Website go to  http://www.fondationbrigittebardot.fr/site/monde.php?Id=319 , click on the Brittish Flag to translate and scroll down the page .

THE RESPONSE FROM THE QUEENSLAND GOVERNMENT IS DISSAPPOINTING !  When will governments invest in the development of non-lethal methods of control !  To view the reply to the FBB from Anna Bligh Click Here .

Australians, WAKE UP …. contact your local members, contact Kevin Rudd, contact Qld. Premier, Anna Bligh.   This is happening here, now … how can we, as the public, make our Federal and State Governments introduce sustainable management and redirect over $300.000 of tax payers’ money into alternatives.   DO IT NOW.

To Email Prime Minister Kevin Rudd click link below :

http://www.pm.gov.au/PM_Connect/contact_your_pm_form

To Email Queenland Premier Anna Bligh click link below:

http://www.thepremier.qld.gov.au/tools/contactform.aspx

SIGN the Online PETITION against the slaughter !  click on the link below -

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/28/Stop-the-slaughter-now

JAN CARTER   CEO  STB INC.

Stephanie Sutton and Friends have organised a Protest Rally Ride on Sat. 17th April to commence at 12 noon. Meet at Greta Pony Club grounds, Nelson St., Greta near Maitland NSW. Canteen open from 9 a.m. Guest speakers, media welcome.

Please support these passionate and determined young Australians as they strive to make a difference and have aerial slaughter of wild horses banned. Whether you ride or walk do come in force and make the Government listen.

Contact: Ph. 02 4930 7701 M. 0448 497 776
Email: saveourbrumbies@live.com.au

The Australian Brumby Alliance has issued the Press Release ata the link below:

http://www.australianbrumbyalliance.org.au/new-track-needed-alpine-brumby-management

and you can view the government report by going to :

http://www.australianalps.environment.gov.au/publications/index.html

Press Release
AERIAL SLAUGHTER

Bullets are again raining down from summer skies in Carnarvon, the timing could not be worse, little foals born this year will stagger and fall, trying to keep up with the terrified mobs. If they survive the shoot they face slow starvation without their dams.
Is this a third world country ?? no, it’s Australia in the 21st century.

Despite what EPA say regarding animal welfare we have photographic evidence to show that such protocols are not always followed. (See photos below) After the last slaughter in Carnarvon we obtained a copy of an autopsy report; some 21 carcasses were inspected by Government vets from thousands of carcasses left to rot on the ground in Carnarvon. An average of four bullets to kill each horse, ages ranging from foals, yearlings and adult horses.

The cost to Queensland tax payers was in excess of $250.000 for helicopters, snipers and
20.000 rounds of bullets.

Our web site has published a statement issued by RSPCA regarding aerial slaughter. (See below). Last year, RSPCA refused to condone further shoots calling for the EPA to investigate alternative control methods, to include fertility control and passive trapping and removal. It has been stated in RSPCA’s Code of Practice that it is not possible to kill animals humanely from a moving platform such as a helicopter.

In correspondence with EPA we have been informed that Expressions of Interest were issued to remove horses and cattle from Carnarvon. The response was negative. Of course it was; the public just don’t have thousands of dollars to outlay for trap yards, trucks and personnel to conduct such programs. Until Queensland Government is prepared to make a genuine and sincere commitment to outlawing aerial slaughter, form a Government Steering Committee of experienced personnel and work through this issue once and for all the massacres continue. Yet EPA can find money to aerial shoot and pay for snipers and bullets at tax payers’ expense. We ask, why cannot such money be redirected into alternative management plans ??

We have received emails from horse interest groups in Northern Queensland willing to remove horses on an annual basis. But some funding is needed. Such interests have people waiting to retrain these Heritage Brumby horses for stock work and equestrian pursuits and we have been informed that there is a real need for tough and sturdy horses in this part of the country. However it would seem that bullets are still the quick and easy fix and no real attempt to investigate alternative management plans would appear to have been made since the last slaughter. Fertility control could be trialled in isolated groups of 200 plus horses in several areas of Qld. Ongoing management in this method of control is well advanced in the USA and other countries.

We ask, when is Australia going to stop the blood and bullets, sit down round the table and look to the future. And provide some funding and assistance for the public to take on these superb Heritage Brumbies. Aerial slaughter of our Icon, the Heritage Brumby, is AUSTRALIA’S SHAME and with our extensive land and resources there is no excuse or justification for such actions.

In 1972 an Act of Congress was passed by the US Government proclaiming the Heritage and History of the American Mustang wild horse and his value to the American people. Today the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages over 60.000 horses on an annual basis and runs Government adoption programs for such horses.
All financed by the US Government. Why cannot such programs be introduced in Australia ?? Why ?? simply because those in power refuse to take animal welfare seriously and prefer the easy, outdated way out, blood and bullets.

In NSW aerial slaughter is banned, wild Heritage Brumbies in NSW National Parks are passively trapped and handed over to rehoming groups or contractors for removal.
This outcome has been achieved after many years of negotiating with State Government and although still far from ideal such programs pave the way to sustainable management.

We were initially told that such a task was impossible, the terrain was inaccessible, the horses were diseased, feral, not worth the effort. In Guy Fawkes River National Park, the scene of the aerial slaughter that made world headlines in 2000, we have proved Government wrong on every count. The Management Plan for wild horses in Guy Fawkes in which we had a large input is now a model for other national parks to follow.

Queenslanders, realise what is happening in your own State and help stop the cruelty inflicted on horses that have served us in war and peace, introduced by us and now, subjected to a cruel death in the name of conservation.

Save the Brumbies Inc. again urgently calls on the Queensland Government to ban aerial slaughter immediately, instigate a Steering Committee and redirect monies allocated to aerial slaughter into more positive outcomes.
Posted March 2010

RSPCA QLD. STATEMENT
MICHAEL BEATTY
PUBLICITY OFFICER

There is no way that the RSPCA actively supports the killing of any animal. It’s a sad fact of life that for many of our staff humane euthanasia of domestic animals and wildlife has become part of their daily existence. Human irresponsibility, neglect and occasionally blatant cruelty are the main causes of this senseless waste of life.

Unfortunately in the case of the feral horses in Carnarvon, the numbers have irresponsibly been allowed to build up so that there is now a major problem, not only to native wildlife and flora but also a potential welfare problem to the horses themselves. In fact many horses are starving. The numbers should never have been allowed to escalate to this level, particularly in a National park. Yes fertility drugs (PZP) have been used to control feral animal numbers overseas and we have been urging State and Federal Governments to investigate these alternatives and implement programs sooner rather than later. Otherwise it goes without saying that culls will become “necessary” in other National Parks. We have explained to the EPA that we need a firm commitment from them to actively investigate the use of PZP here before we sanction any further culls. We do accept that sadly there will need to be a further reduction in numbers in Carnarvon before PZP can effectively control the future population.

The horrendous debacle in Guy Fawkes River National Park in NSW was quite rightly a major animal welfare issue. Many of the animals were left to die in agony and these images lived with many animal lovers for a long, long time. I can assure you that RSPCA Qld would never have supported an aerial cull, (albeit reluctantly), to go ahead if there was any likelihood of this carnage being repeated. In Carnarvon a backup helicopter was added in an effort to ensure there were no suffering animals left behind. A combination of inhospitable terrain, the severe stress put on the animals by ground mustering in this terrain and the health of the animals concerned were all taken into account before the decision was made to proceed. Again I must stress that we reluctantly accept the action was necessary and the cull was carried out as humanely as possible.

We will not “support” any further culls until the State Government has agreed to trial immuno- contraception (PZP) or bring in an expert on its use from the United States to advise on its use in Carnarvon and other National Parks.

Warning These photographs may cause distress; we show them to expose the shocking brutality of aerial slaughter and the distress and prolonged suffering it inflicts on living creatures.

Horse shot in rump and belly, left to bleed to death.

Foal, soaked in sweat from stress and terror stands beside his slaughtered Mum, this baby will die a slow, lingering death.

Please email: www.pm.gov.au and voice your concerns directly to the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.

Brumbies - They Deserve Better

 After a muster of wild brumbies in Central Australia, the staff from Kings Creek Station have taken on the role of sponsoring and supporting four fillies Sapphire, KC, Tempe and Nellie and one little colt called Levi. Horse lovers Angie Howard, Luke Peach and Marco Schmidt have been handling the foals, aged between 1½ -3 months old, with gentleness, kindness and consistency in order to give them the confidence for a life in the domestic world.

But need help to maintain the level of care. So far the foals are learning to be haltered and lead, and they are hopeful of finding permanent homes in the future. They are tough little foals that have had to survive the harshness of Central Australia and even at their young ages are battle scarred from the environment they have lived in.

If you can help support these babies or, better still, offer one of them a permanent home Contact Angie or Luke on info@kingscreekstation.com.au

click to enlarge

http://www.gympietimes.com.au/story/2009/10/30/dont-shoot/

or go the ABA website and click on the latest news