Kangaroo meat is unhealthy
Killing
animals in the dust, dirt and flies can never approach standards of
hygiene mandatory in an abattoir. A Government report
‘Australia's
Preparedness for Emerging Wildlife Diseases’,
states that wildlife disease is a threat to human health. There is
little doubt that diseases can be contracted from eating kangaroo
meat.
Kangaroos are subjected to constant anxiety while hunted by
shooters. Stress releases myopathy toxins in their bodies. The
corpses are driven around on a dusty unhygienic truck all night then
placed in inadequately refrigerated ‘chillers’ for up to two weeks,
which can lead to contamination with faeces, maggots,
E.coli
and
more
(see
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUZrKj6ClBg).
Kangaroo meat can contain salmonella, staphylococcus and
streptococcus
and toxoplasmosis
outbreaks related to kangaroo meat consumption have resulted in
multiple illnesses. In 2008,
three kangaroo processing plants closed down. In August 2009,
Russia
banned all imports due to
E.coli
contamination. Canada has banned the importation of
kangaroo meat. Eating kangaroo meat can also cause anaphylaxis (an
allergic reaction) and bowel cancer.
During
periodic locust plagues kangaroos are constantly and unavoidably
sprayed with toxic nerve poisons (including
organophosphorous insecticides)
as they range
back and forth.
Pets can die from eating kangaroo meat. If it is preserved with
sulphur dioxide it can cause vitamin B deficiency. Dr Richard Malik,
from Sydney
University's Post Graduate
Foundation in Veterinary Science, told Today Tonight that pets
affected by sulphur dioxide become wobbly on their legs, may develop
a head tilt then progress to seizures, paralysis and death.
The kangaroo industry is inhumane
The
commercial industry assures us that kangaroos are humanely killed
according to ‘the code of practice.’ However, the killing is
performed often from moving vehicles in the bush at night,
unsupervised, by shooters whose proficiency is questionable. Many
kangaroos are shot in the face or neck and left to die painfully of
starvation and gangrene.
The
adult females who are killed often have an in-pouch joey and an
at-foot joey. The in-pouch joey is decapitated, stomped on or
bashed to death against a tree or truck. The at-foot joey flees
to die of starvation, hypothermia or predation.
The kangaroo industry is
unsustainable
The
Department of Environment talks about the ‘sustainable harvesting of
renewable resources.’ However their own figures show that in most
states where kangaroos are hunted they are at ‘quasi-extinction’
levels, which, according to the Murray Darling Report, is defined as
less than 5 kangaroos per square kilometre. Also the kangaroo
industry has killed off the biggest males. In
Queensland
and South Australia
the average age of commercially killed kangaroos is only 2-3 years
i.e. barely of breeding age. In 2007 up to 80% of the kangaroos
killed in some parts of NSW were females.
According to government websites kangaroo populations have crashed
up to 70% from 2001-2006, due mainly to the drought and unrelenting
pressure from the kangaroo industry. In 2008 the quota was 3.8
million making this
the
largest
slaughter
of land-based
wildlife
on the
planet.
Kangaroo meat cannot replace
cattle
Kangaroos are not farmed and in fact cannot be farmed.
They
cannot be herded or driven into yards or abattoirs because they get
too stressed (capture myopathy). The lactic acid builds up in their
muscles causing the meat to
go rancid and become inedible. Nor can they be transported live
(only in extraordinary circumstances, if sedated).
Kangaroos need a lot of space to roam and cannot be confined in
overcrowded areas. Kangaroo-proof fencing is very expensive (DPI
recommends 12 wires alternately electrified, 2.13 metres high).
Farmers
would
never
substitute kangaroos for sheep and cattle. Compared
to cows kangaroos are small,
lean
animals. An adult yields 6.9kg of meat, only 0.25kg of which would
be human-grade. The current annual human-grade kangaroo meat
production is only 600 tonnes
(from 2.5 million kangaroos) compared to 1,700,000
tonnes
of beef. So,
in order to produce enough meat to
replace beef the entire kangaroo population would have to be killed
several hundred times every year.
Kangaroos can only give birth to one joey a year and the survival
rate for joeys is low, especially during drought times. While sheep
"produce" meat, skin and wool - kangaroos "produce" only meat and
skin. A ten year old adult male red kangaroo weighing 60kg can only
"produce" roughly 6kg of prime cut meat, while lambs can be
slaughtered at 3-6 months of age to "produce" 20kg meat (Preuss,
1999).
A two
year old cow can "produce" 200kg of meat, so clearly kangaroo
"farming" is not economically viable.
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