RSPCA concerns spread to Healesville
January 27th, 2008 Posted in Pets GuideThe RSPCA has criticised the management of the Healesville native fauna sanctuary following the deaths of several animals and complaints from staff about animal care.
A report on the issue in The Age newspaper follows a weekend report of allegations of abuse and neglect at the Royal Melbourne Zoo that included the stabbing of an elephant.
Healesville Sanctuary staff raised issues including the death of an echidna that was taken to Phillip Island by a keeper who was attending a V8 Supercars race meeting last month.
The echidna was kept in a vehicle and a hotel room as temperatures rose to 30 degrees, The Age report said.
A Zoos Victoria autopsy found the echidna died of heart failure and an existing condition, the report said.
Zoos Victoria senior veterinarian Helen McCracken said it was common for keepers to take animals home to maximise care, and the echidna was kept in a climate-controlled container, but Victorian RSPCA President Hugh Wirth was critical.
“Why was an echidna taken to a motor race? It’s not a domestic animal, for God’s sake,” Dr Wirth said.
Concerns have been raised by staff about the welfare of animals and the acquisition of animals for marketing and public relations purposes over the past four years, the report said.
Complaints include:
- the hand-rearing of a red-bellied black cockatoo as a 2006 Commonwealth Games mascot for media opportunities and the removal of several dependent parrot chicks of other varieties against Bureau of Animal Welfare guidelines;
- housing parrots in small, “pet shop-style cages”;
- an eclectus parrot that was decapitated by a wedge-tailed eagle when they were kept in the same open-flight enclosure;
- four feather-tailed gliders found dead in a bin after they escaped their enclosures; and,
- fifteen finches that starved to death.
Documents leaked to The Age indicate former Healesville curator and now Zoos Victoria acting chief executive Matt Vincent assured the Bureau of Animal Welfare that a red-bellied black cockatoo chick would not be removed.
He told The Age he could not recall making that undertaking.
He said staff had contacted the bureau about small bird cages.
“We did discuss that issue with the bureau and we all agreed that those birds would benefit from additional space, and they were moved.”
Mr Vincent said steps had been taken to ensure there would be no repeat of the parrot’s decapitation and attributed the escape and deaths of the gliders to human error.
Dr Wirth said he believed the sanctuary’s management had slipped badly in the past 10 years.
“It’s about time the whole issue of wildlife and cruelty were sorted out. Australian animals need to be protected rather than gawked at,” Dr Wirth said.
Victorian Premier John Brumby says the state’s zoos have his full confidence despite allegations of animal abuse.
Mr Brumby said Environment Minister Gavin Jennings had asked the zoos to respond to the complaints.
“I have complete confidence in the zoos that we run in this state,” he told reporters.
“They have a very high level of concern for the animals in their care and I think they do a great job and our zoos are renowned around the world.”
Related posts
Tags: animal care, animal welfare, animals, benefit, birds, fauna, finch, game, hotel room, parrots, Pet, pet shop, rspca, spca, vet, veterinarian, welfare
