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Aust'n state extends controversial policy of "harvesting" kangaroos for pet food

Xinhua, May 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Australian state of Victoria will push ahead with its controversial policy of killing kangaroos and recycling their meat to use in low-cost pet food.

New figures show almost 50 percent of kangaroos culled in the state since 2014 were processed into pet food, under a trial introduced by the Victorian government.

The trial officially finished in March this year, but Victoria's Minister for Agriculture Jaala ­Pulford has now extended the program until at least 2018.

The decision has been met with criticism from the Victorian Greens party, which has raised concerns that shooters are breaking rules set down within the policy's guidelines.

Earlier this week, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning admitted some shooters had been warned for exceeding the maximum number of carcasses allowed to be submitted for processing.

Greens party leader Greg Barber also suggested that the shooters were not euthanizing joeys after killing their mothers.

"We know the government can't supervise these culls properly," Barber said in comments published by News Corp on Thursday. "We know there is cruelty, and a slow death, and joeys are orphaned."

It is understood the shooters collect around 15 U.S. dollars per processed Kangaroo carcass.

A Victorian government spokesman on Thursday confirmed there was a "very small number of incidents of noncompliance, and the ­department has taken the appropriate action."

Two full-time officers have been hired to ensure shooters comply with the rules, the spokesman said.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty and other animal advocate groups have lobbied against the culling program for the past two years.

More than 100,000 kangaroos, an animal which features on the Australian Coat of Arms, are put down in Victoria each year.

Four other Australian states (Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia) conduct commercial kangaroo culling in a bid to control overpopulation and wastage of the native species.

According to statistics, almost 35 million kangaroos and wallaroos were "harvested" in these four states between 2000 to 2012. Endit