PATRICE GREANVILLE
It had to happen: the usual mixture of human entitlement, supremacist attitudes, the colonialist disease, rotten governments, and the boundless arrogance that many animal defenders define as “speciesism” is now decimating wild equine lives in Australia. And the vanguard of this pestilential wave against defenceless nature and latest “great idea” are the usual idiots in camo suits and high-power diversified weaponry: the hunting fraternity, the folks who get their kicks by killing innocent creatures all over the planet, all legal, of course.The maneuver used by these killers and their numerous allies in the establishment, including many lawmakers and media, is first to “demonize” or “criminalize” a particular species, declare it a varmint, a pest, a threat to this or that. Then move to annihilate. Ironically the same tactic applies often to political targets. We see this for example in the political and Western media demonization of President Putin, and Russia itself. Or any other figure or nation daring to stand up or become an obstacle to the imperial mandates emanating from Washington. Of late the empire’s propagandists have added the Chinese leadership and China itself. It’s hard to discern whether such behaviour is a case of rampant insanity, imbecility, reckless criminality or all three.
Incidentally, regarding the Aussies, this much must be said: Australians are by and large a nice, laid-back, happy-go-lucky lot, the logical temperament of once rejected Brits who quite unexpectedly found a sunny paradise in their new home down under. Many however display the brutal dominionist attitudes of most Western Europeans toward nature, the mark, apparently of “high technological civilization.” This translates into policies for wildlife and domesticated animals (i.e., animals normally exported in massive quantities) that fall pathetically short of their own self-image as a compassionate nation. Fact is, too many Aussies display attitudes toward their fellow non-human creatures that reek of the human chauvinism and moral backwardness we find in many parts of the United States and Canada, especially the South and Southwest. Apparently it’s the bigness of the place that makes them think everything —sentient and inanimate—can be exploited and destroyed ad infinitum and with impunity.
Thus, their most famous and symbolic animals, the kangaroos, have long been the object of organized culls, and a vigorous commerce exists for their meat, pelts and so on. The capture and killing of these animals is often barbaric. Just ask any of the Aussie animal protection groups about this. You’ll hear a long and well-documented litany of sins, along with profound despair at the paucity of legal recourse.
In any case, judge for yourselves. As reported by News of the Horse:
Cooma, Australia /(Original dateline June 28, 2016–
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] photo of a person known only as “Big John” posing with a dead Brumby stallion has gone viral. In the photo, John is seen posing with his bow and arrows, holding the deceased horse’s head up. He claims to have killed the wild stallion with a single shot at 135′. A bloody wound is visible behind the front leg.
Hunting wild horses is not illegal in Australia. Proponents of hunting, or culling as they refer to it, point to the fact the Brumby is a non-native species that is invasive and destructive to the environment.
Earlier this year, the Australian government released details of their plan to kill 90% of the Brumby population in the Snowy Mountain region. The wild horses in this region were made famous by the movie The Man From Snow River.
Opponents of the culling point ask a simple question: “What damage has been done by the Brumbies in the last 150 years they have lived in the wild?” With the Brumby’s international recognition, steady mind and willing disposition, capturing and retraining is the method of population control many opponents of hunting would prefer.
In this context, it’s useful to recall who are the real “foreigners” to the Australian landmass:
For about 50,000 years[13] before the first British settlement in the late 18th century,[14][15] Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians,[16] who spoke languages grouped into roughly 250 language groups.[17][18] After the European discovery of the continent by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia’s eastern half was claimed by Great Britain in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales from 26 January 1788. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades; the continent was explored and an additional five self-governing crown colonies were established. On 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. (Wikipedia)
Clearly then, by the very logic used by those advocating the equine “cull” (cute word, isn’t it?, dripping with honesty), we could argue that all European-descent Australians should be culled, for NONE is native to the continent. How stupid is that? Well, draw your own conclusions but do not fail to act. Contact the media—for what they are worth—and pester the bloody politicians, also largely a worthless lot. At least they’ll know someone is watching.
The photo nauseates. No trace of any empathy, just ugly supremacist “triumph”. Humans have upset natural balances, and then use that as the excuse to explain wanton killing. The Australian Brumby Alliance is working on this in support of saving and rehoming the Brumbys. As usual, with no government support or funding. This happens everywhere, and is not an isolated thing. The challenge is how to change human perspective, and get people to understand, and feel how wrong this is. Thank you, Greanville Post, for this. And for your connecting this to the larger picture of the corruption of a… Read more »
Big john is more like “little dick”–trying to compensate for what he lacks by killing animals. Total non-loss to the gene pool.