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Australia's Victorian gov't says to support kangaroo pet food

Xinhua, March 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

A radical plan to process the meat from culled kangaroos into pet food will be supported by Australia's Victoria's Labor government, it announced on Monday.

Brendan Roughead, with the Victorian Department of Environment, said the state would continue to cull two kangaroo species, the eastern grey and western grey, because of overpopulation, and the carcasses would be processed for pet food.

By allowing Victorian farmers to sell kangaroos to pet food companies, the environment and the economy both benefited, Roughead said.

"It's really about minimizing the waste," he told ABC radio on Monday.

"Hopefully more of those kangaroos that are being controlled will be processed into pet food, resulting in economic value for the processor."

The state's previous coalition government introduced the plan in March 2014, and the trial was now halfway through, resulting in more than 2,300 kangaroos being culled for the program so far.

"This is the first time kangaroos have been processed for pet food," Roughead said, explaining that animals culled before the program was introduced were simply going to waste.

"At the moment, a landholder applies to the department for an Authority to Control Wildlife permit as part of the trial, they then get a licensed shooter to control the kangaroos and then get in touch with a processor who is licensed to process the animals."

The program commenced in 12 regional councils around Victoria last year, and the wildlife control program allowed farmers to process kangaroos that would be otherwise be buried or discarded.

Before the trials were introduced, up to 95 percent of culled kangaroos were discarded, buried or left to rot, prompting inquiries about the waste of valuable resources.

The trial does not allow culled kangaroos to be used for human consumption.

Roughead said the Department of Environment had issued 144 permits for the trial, which allows farmers to kill nearly 10,000 kangaroos during the two-year period. Endi