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Agriculture Environment and Water | February 02, 2018

Permanent kangaroo pet food program urgently needed

The Nationals Member for Lowan Emma Kealy MP is continuing her call for the Andrews Labor Government to implement a permanent kangaroo pet food program across Victoria.

A trial allowing legally harvested kangaroo carcasses to be salvaged for pet food is due to expire in March with Labor yet to announce an extension of the trial or its permanent introduction.

Ms Kealy said kangaroos were wreaking havoc on Victoria’s roads and not enough was being done to ensure the states kangaroo population was being managed in a humane and sustainable way.

“The Liberal and Nationals Kangaroo Pet Food Trial is a practical measure to address Victoria’s kangaroo problem by reducing waste, allowing carcasses to be repurposed and creating employment,” Ms Kealy said.

According to VicRoads’ data there have been 797 collisions with animals resulting in injury or fatality in Victoria over the last five years.

“This figure does not include the huge number of smaller prangs which have resulted in damage to vehicles, inconvenience to drivers and costly repair works, or the frightening near misses most of us have encountered,” Ms Kealy said.

“As a frequent driver across the Lowan electorate and a regular traveller to Melbourne I personally see many incidents of roadkill, meaning drivers have hit the kangaroo, damaging their car and being out of pocket due to vehicle repairs.

“I have also seen firsthand the damage that plague numbers of kangaroos are having on our local ecosystem and the habitat of other native flora and fauna.

“I believe the pet food program is an effective and humane system to minimise this damage while at the same time reducing the risk on our roads.

“I am calling on the Andrews Labor Government to immediately extend this scheme across all regional local government areas in Victoria and make it permanent,” she said.