WA Gov Brumby slaughter

Date Uploaded: 29 Jun 2010

Dear all,

Over the past weeks hundreds of e-mails have been sent to alert the world to the decision of the West Australian government to round up thousands of the wild horses from the remote Kimberleys region of Lake Gregory, cram them into trucks and transport them over 3000 kilometers to be slaughtered, and the meat sent overseas for human consumption.

This was scheduled to begin two weeks ago, with no public consultation. We only received confirmation of the slaughter and transport plans when Animals Australia intervened and contacted the relevant ministry. Our heartfelt thanks to all of you who heard the cry for help and acted on behalf of the wild horses of the Kimberley, in sending letters of protest, on-forwarding and cross-posting.

An urgent campaign was mounted and in the ten days over 6000 letters of protest have been sent to West Australia government. This has had an effect, with an emergency meeting of government departments convened to discuss the planned slaughter. An Animals Welfare Advisory Committee has been set up to advise on this issue. Animals Australia will be on this committee.

It is meeting next Monday, June 21 However the final decision rest with the government and will be made in just a couple of weeks. Even if the arrangements for the slaughter are on hold for a short time, there are very strong commercial interests at work for the horses to be killed.

Further information:

• · The number of horses is more likely to be 2000. 
•  · Even if the transport plan in shelved, we believe that an aerial kill or an on-site slaughter house may be recommended. 
•  · It would appear that the plan is to remove horses and increase cattle and to continue to run the area as a cattle station. This was confirmed in an e-mail reply from Russell Shaw, Department of Agriculture, to a letter of protest. 

For the past 10 years Lake Gregory has not succeeded as a cattle station and increases in cattle will further damage lake and country Wild Horse Kimberley has an alternative proposal for humane population management. It includes plans for The lake to be fenced with solar driven fencing using this to provide water points to trap the horses for gelding and PZP contraception.

The area can be developed as a Brumby sanctuary with great tourist potential, brining income to the area and managing the horse population. This will not only avoid mass slaughter, it will also provide a model for a humane long-term population management plan It is vital that we keep sending a strong message of protest and to voice our support for an alternative plan.

As stated by Animals Australia ‘While the committee's role will be to make its recommendation on animal welfare grounds, the final decision will remain with the WA Government. In this tenuous situation it is therefore critical that the government continues to hear the voices of caring people who are appalled by the ill-conceived plan to cruelly exterminate these peaceful animals.

If you haven't already, please send this alert to everyone you know who cares about horses.’ WE need as many people as possible to write to the following before Friday (if you miss that deadline please write and forward on anyway):

• The Hon Terry Redman WA Minister for Agriculture E-mail: Minister.Redman@dpc.wa.gov.au
•  The Hon. Kim Hames Minister for Indigenous Affairs E-mail: Minister.Hames@dpc.wa.gov.au 
• The Hon. John Castrilli Minister for Local Government E-mail: Minister.Castrilli@dpc.wa.gov.au 

 Ideas for letter

• · You are aware and deeply concerned that the West Australian government plans to slaughter the wild horses from the Lake Gregory area of West Australia. 
•  · Note – the horses are not ‘native’ Please DO NOT make a point that the horses were there before man etc –they were introduced many decades ago – see http://www.wildhorseskimberley.com – they are however a part of Australia’s heritage. 
•  · You understand there are around two thousand horses in the region, shared with up to 5000 cattle. 
• · That, on welfare grounds, you oppose any rounding up and transport of the horses for slaughter, 
•  · The slaughter of horses in 2008 near Broome resulted in slow agonising deaths of horses and foals. There was with eye-witness and photographic evidence of some of the 600 horse deaths being prolonged and agonising. The aerial kill resulted in animals enormous suffering as horses died from gunshot wounds to various parts of their body, foals died from running into fencing, and or dying of thirst
• · Regarding long distance transport - There is significant scientifically acknowledged evidence to show long distance transport of animals causes great suffering and cruelty Failure to have Inspectors to control all aspects of the welfare of these horses during the proposed operation raises serious issues including the ability of the authorities in WA to ensure full compliance to the Codes of transport for horses in WA and the Animal Welfare Legislation. 
•  · Environmental damage by horses is not proven and the impact of horses is far less than that of cattle. 
•  · You support a long term humane management plan as being proposed by Wild Horses Kimberley, a local group, who has been working with these particular horses on this land for the last five years, who with others, is willing to manage the population through gelding of stallions and use of a contraceptive for the mares.
•  · There is an opportunity to develop a Brumby sanctuary to support a viable local tourism industry. 
•  · This humane proposal would offer many positive welfare outcomes: the horse numbers which is likely to be far less than the unsubstantiated number of 5000, are controlled, which lessens perceived impact on the environment, distress, stress, terror, injury and deaths that will inevitably occur with such wholesale round up and transportation of these horses is avoided, and with the most positive implication - a viable and sound animal population management system is established to prevent the future suffering and cruelty from occurring.

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