Cop Accused Of Cruelty After Taking Two Shots To Kill Kangaroo

[poodlefan]

What?

He didn't call the RSPCA funded 24 hour animal ambulance to come and get it????

Oh hang on, they don't have one. They probably spent the money on another national ad campaign.

Seriously, what else could he have done.. bashed its brains out with a tyre iron or left it to suffer and possibly cause more accidents?

The only person that could have been called was a ranger who'd have shot it anyway.

[WreckitWhippet]

I can tell you now I wish there were some cops around on a country road when you whack one at 2am. It sure beats disposing of them on your own.

[centitout]

The horse shooting was the thing that turned me off that useless organisation for ever,i remember seeing it on the news and crying my head off.

Poor bloody police officer,i feel for him having to do that in public,but the alternative of leaving it in agony and being a danger to the public is a lot worse.

I still remember when i was little ,and they called the police to shoot a old horse in a communal paddock that backed onto us,when she was chased into a fence by 2 german shepards and broke both front legs.He was crying as he did it.

[Jed]

I can tell you now I wish there were some cops around on a country road when you whack one at 2am. It sure beats disposing of them on your own.

I have been advised by the RSPCA that I could be prosecuted for doing that. No doubt you could be prosecuted too.

Next time I find on the road (I've never hurt one when driving), I shall leave it there, phone the RSPCA, and if they do not attend in a timely way, I intend to make a huge song and donce to all the media. Someone will come and take photos of the suffering.

Police, in my experience, have always been wonderful at attending and ending the misery of injured animals. I feel for the poor policeman in this instance. He probably shot the roo quite correctly, and shot it again "to be sure" and is now being pasted for doing the right thing.

I s'pose a "few roos" and a "few horses" are jusr like a "few chooks" that a big bu$ine$$ like the RSPCA couldn't be bothered about, unless there's some publicity.

Remember Clifford.

We remember you, Clifford. Used and killed.

[curlygirl]

Well done and thank you to the police officer for doing his best. Adult kangaroos are not able to be treated for broken legs, they simply cant be handled and kept safely or fairly. Even as a qualified vet nurse used to dealing with wildlife I believe the best thing to do was shoot this kangaroo. As someone mentioned most, if not all adults like this die of capture myopathy anyway.

Also what about the safety of people near by if the kangaroo was not shot, was Hugh Wirth going to step in and get a vein on an injure, wild animal? Just getting close enough to get a vein would be dangerous even for an experienced vet, much less risk to people and stress to the animal to be shot.

[thornliegirl]

Good on the Copper!

[hortfurball]

Curlygirl, I'm glad you posted that adult kangaroos can't be treated for a broken leg, because looking at that photo of a seemingly relaxed kangaroo, it seems hard to accept that anybody had to kill it.

I feel sorry for the cop for being the one who had to do it, and for the flak he received from doing his job, but I must admit I was wondering why a team of RSPCA rangers were unavailable to dart it and take it away for rehabilitation. It's not thrashing wildly and doesn't look stressed by its injury. I suppose darting it could shock it into action that would be painful for the roo and could cause a hazard though, and if it can't be treated, then this was the only alternative, given that the RSPCA were 'unavailable'.

Why are they calling it a LARGE kangaroo btw? Looks small-medium to me.

[centitout]

Wonder what the RSPCA would have said about the way a crippled sow was disposed of that i saw-7 shots at point blank range-the last one finally dropped the poor thing.And this place passed accreditation,but as i was told "only a pig".They (RSPCA)are simply not interested in the big issues.

[altheau]

What gets me is that this is all a set up. I not having a go at the copper but here in the country news reporters don't get a chance to take photos. Its done and quick.

And as someone said its Australia Day.

It is worth hearing the photographers side, it was not actually setup, he just happened across the scene

Photographers Comments

worth reading the first comment directly after, makes sense also what he said.

There are some decisions that just can't wait for everyone to arrive, they are hard and take courage to make. I am glad the Police had the courage to do what was right.

[poodlemum]

Is it possible to get a diagram of the base of Wirthless's brain?

eta - to protect my butt lol.

Errr - I rather think that's impossible, for reasons which I won't state

[WreckitWhippet]

I can tell you now I wish there were some cops around on a country road when you whack one at 2am. It sure beats disposing of them on your own.

I have been advised by the RSPCA that I could be prosecuted for doing that. No doubt you could be prosecuted too.

Next time I find on the road (I've never hurt one when driving), I shall leave it there, phone the RSPCA, and if they do not attend in a timely way, I intend to make a huge song and donce to all the media. Someone will come and take photos of the suffering.

Really ? I'm doing the wrong thing by putting one out of it's misery ?

Let's face it, if I can dispose of it, then it's highly unlikely that it would be a rehab candidate.

[Asari]

I can tell you now I wish there were some cops around on a country road when you whack one at 2am. It sure beats disposing of them on your own.

I have been advised by the RSPCA that I could be prosecuted for doing that. No doubt you could be prosecuted too.

Next time I find on the road (I've never hurt one when driving), I shall leave it there, phone the RSPCA, and if they do not attend in a timely way, I intend to make a huge song and donce to all the media. Someone will come and take photos of the suffering.

Really ? I'm doing the wrong thing by putting one out of it's misery ?

Let's face it, if I can dispose of it, then it's highly unlikely that it would be a rehab candidate.

Well if thats the case then were we are were all in trouble then because we average 2 a month on our rd that needs to be pts due to a car hitting them. We get the phone call as OH is a retired cop and has the guns. By the time anyone from the rspca got out here the roo would not be found

[BittyMooPeeb]

Dr Wirth needs to wake up and smell the coffee. The cop did the right thing. So what if it took 2 shots it is not as if he shot it once walked away and came back an hour later and shot it again. It would have been 2 quick taps. It would have been cruel to just leave it there waiting for someone else to come and assess the animal and it would have been crueler and even dangerous to try and take it to be assesed or just move it out of the way.

I congratulate the cop on a job well done.

I can say from experience that a ranger does not always do the job in one shot either.

How can Dr Wirth think it is better that the Roo suffer pain and fear on a busy street until the 'proper procedure' was followed

ETA: Started to read the comments and couldn't get past the first one:

.. I am 14 years old and a vegetarian, so obviously I do not have steak on my dinner plate. I do understand how meat works, and I believe it a very cruel practice. Animals aren’t tasty. ..

Oh my gawd

Edited January 29, 2010 by BittyMooPeeb

[Jed]

hotfurball

Curlygirl, I'm glad you posted that adult kangaroos can't be treated for a broken leg, because looking at that photo of a seemingly relaxed kangaroo, it seems hard to accept that anybody had to kill it.

When kangaroos are badly hurt they tend to lie like that and of course, if they have a broken leg, they can't get up.

Taking them to the vets for treatment does not always work,they get so stressed, and they cannot be

confined for treatment.

I have had a few pet ones. One was sick so I took her to our wildlife vet - she sort of coped with him handling her, as I was nursing her but she was not happy. She returned home needing twice daily doses of nasty tasting medicine. She hated that so much, that she was never as quiet or friendly again.

Taking wild ones anywhere in a vehicle is so much trauma for them, it's as likely to kill them as the original injury

And while Dr Wirth is being over critical and issuing advice on how to shoot animals perhaps he should have spoken to the RSPCA inspectors in NSW who shot Ruth Downey's cattle? Photos show them being very unprofessionally shot, and many shots being used. Disgusting.

[corrie]

And while Dr Wirth is being over critical and issuing advice on how to shoot animals perhaps he should have spoken to the RSPCA inspectors in NSW who shot Ruth Downey's cattle? Photos show them being very unprofessionally shot, and many shots being used. Disgusting.

Absolutely, Jed.

That police officer would probably not deal with that type of thing very often so no matter how accurate and lethal he thought his shot was I think he did the right thing shooting the poor kangaroo a second time to ensure there was no chance it was alive and suffering. Obviously, Hugh would have thought it more satisfactory that the policeman took that chance and only discharged one bullet.

[Erny]

. Worthless is just getting himself in the news again ...

Yep - seems that way.

What about Ruth Downey's cattle and the way the RSPCA shot them? I believe I recall that a number of the cattle were belly shot from a distance. That was disgusting.

Someone needs to look closer to home.

I agree - one shot would have been better/nicer, for the Roo. But the only reason the Cop was placed at the scene was because an Animal Ranger couldn't be found to get there as quickly as the Roo deserved. Apart from that - is it possible the Roo would have struggled to get up if the Cop got any closer? It's a wild animal - unfamiliar at being up-close and personal with human beings. We don't know. Hugh - this is not your story.

RIP Roo.

Edited January 29, 2010 by Erny

[OSoSwift]

Typical bloody do -gooders, no idea and half as many brains!

The Policeman did the right thing, Roos cannot be "fixed" their legs would never ever be able to take the strain they put on them again. If they survived the stress of capture and subsequent surgery. Most would die and agonising and painful prolonged death.

Come on RSPCA go pick on the people that deserve it and leave the Policeman alone - he was doing the kindest thing in what seems like VERY trying circumstances. If you cared that much one of your team would have been available to check out the situation, they weren't he did the kindest thing - he stopped pain and suffering.

Isn't that what the RSPCA is supposed to be about????............................................

[WoofnHoof]

That's shocking, it's incredibly difficult to get a clean shot on a wild animal, a domestic animal will generally let you get close enough to get a clear line to it's brain but a wild animal a couple of quick well aimed shots is more than enough. We have an official wildlife person (don't know what they are called but I called the WIRES people and they sent him out) up the road when I found a roo that had been hit near my house he came out he only had a low powered rifle so it took a few shots to really be sure that the poor thing was finished off but it would have been far worse had he tried to get closer to an animal already stressed by it's situation and the close presence of humans

Might be worth writing to the RSPCA and asking them to clarify and justify their position on this one...

[Jed]

Don't read this if you are squeamish, please

If you sshoot something - a kangaroo for instance - correctly - there is still the possibility it will jerk a bit - I think the policeman used "best practice" to ensure that life had ended. He couldn't get too close, because that would have stressed the poor roo even more.He didn't have his stethoscope and the second shot was just insurance. That's normal in those type of situations. I've seen vets do it - for exactly that reason. I am sure the policeman was familiar with his weapon, was a reasonable marksman, and the bullet went where it was supposed to.

This is simply another example of Wirth using his position for publicity. It would have cost him nothing to say "job well done" - he still would have the publicity.

Trouble is, he seems incapable of saying anything reasonable.

And when he comes out with one of his frenetic outbursts, it's all too easy to think of Ruth Downey's cattle, how horrible was that, and those poor, poor horses. Nothing deserves to die like that, but Wirth doesn't care.