FUND TO FREE KANGAROOS ON DEATHROW

Over the past decade the Australian Society for Kangaroos (ASK) has stood at the forefront of direct front line action and saved thousands of kangaroos from death row and unnecessary slaughter.
 
Right now ASK is fighting to save the lives of up to 400 kangaroos on death row in Epping, just north of Melbourne, Victoria whose home is earmarked for imminent development.  

On the 25th August ASK and volunteers shut down a government operation to shoot these kangaroos and set up an around the clock front line action to keep them alive and safe.
 
ASK along with their volunteers, supporters and members of the public are now calling on the Victorian state government to relocate these land-locked kangaroos to a safe new home where they can live out their lives in peace.  But the Victorian government has an old fashioned perspective and a 'no' policy on relocation as they 'don't want to set a precedent'. However their out-dated approach to wildlife management is inconsistent with public expectations who view the relocation of these land-locked kangaroos, protected under state legislation, as a basic duty of care.

ASK's campaign to save the Epping kangaroo families and have them relocated to a new home has now escalated and on Thursday 21st September ASKs legal team lodged an application to the Supreme Court in Melbourne for a judicial review and discovery of documents in a desperate bid to stop their pending slaughter.

But ASK needs your help to do this and to fund this ground breaking legal process for their future protection and better outcomes for all land locked kangaroos.

ASK is a national not for profit organisation operated entirely by volunteers, with every cent donated going directly towards saving the lives of kangaroos and their families.

Below are just some of the battles ASK have fought and won for kangaroos:

In 2016 ASK set up direct front line action at Woodlands Historic Park that continued for 8 months.  Our presence hindered Parks Victoria’s ability to shoot and 150 kangaroos and their joeys were saved and Parks Vic was forced to find alternative strategies. 

Since 2016 ASK has challenged Parks Victoria over their annual permits to kill  thousands of red and western grey kangaroos in National Parks in Western Victoria and ASK will continue this battle for as long as it takes until kangaroos are protected in Victoria's national parks.

In 2015 ASK negotiated with Parks Victoria to save the lives of 50 kangaroos from being shot at the Gresswell Forest Reserve in Watsonia north of Melbourne.  Parks Victoria consequently implemented fertility control and no shooting ever took place.

In 2015 ASK coordinated, funded and saved 140 kangaroos from being shot at a public fauna park in Victoria. As these kangaroos were under a DELWP (Department Environment, Land, Water Planning) fauna display licence ASK was able to organise the relocation of these kangaroos to other wildlife licence holders.

In 2014 ASK challenged the QLD Department Environment and Heritage Protection in the Supreme Court over the issuing of five permits issued to kill 1500 Agile Wallabies at South Mission Beach Far North Queensland.

In 2013 ASK took the ACT government to the ACT Civil Tribunal over their annual killing programs in nature reserves. For the first and only time the ACT CAT panel ruled that based on the evidence presented by ASK the number of kangaroos killed should be reduced. Again hundreds of kangaroos and their babies were saved as a result.

In 2012 with the assistance of animal lawyer Daniel Beecher ASK appealed to the DPP over the lenient sentencing of three young men from Seymour who committed multiple acts of cruelty on a juvenile kangaroo before brutally killing it. This caused massive public outrage. In response to our submission, the DPP took the case on himself resulting in all three men being convicted for their crimes and one of the men receiving a suspended sentence. This case highlighted that when it comes to wildlife cruelty the justice system needs to rule more in line with public opinion.

In 2011 ASK set up front line action at NMIT Eden Park after they applied and were issued a permit to kill 300 kangaroos.  ASK volunteers together with concerned local residents repeatedly stopped their attempts at shooting the kangaroos who call Eden Park home and after 8 months on the front line we were able to save hundreds of kangaroos and their joeys. 

In 2010 ASK produced a TV commercial highlighting the cruel practices within the commercial kangaroo industry accompanied by Rob Thomas's (Matchbox 20) haunting song Now Comes the Night.

In 2009 ASK obtained FOI information that exposed the horrific broad scale annual slaughter at Mt Panorama for the international Bathurst 1000 car rally. This sparked huge public outcry and international condemnation. After many years of community effort along with the incredible work of the local Bathurst Kangaroo Project hundreds of kangaroos were relocated this year and there have been no further kangaroo culls on Mt Panorama.

Here are some of the recent media stories about the Epping kangaroos and ASKs bid to save them:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/australian-society-for-kangaroos-volunteers-to-patrol-epping-following-department-cull/news-story/f5a02d56b6cf1bc282086925b6018437

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/north/protesters-put-up-pink-ribbons-to-campaign-for-relocation-of-epping-roos/news-story/4c6e4081d74c01ccee83abb29b95fdda

http://www.starweekly.com.au/news/protesters-shut-down-epping-kangaroo-cull/

https://www.facebook.com/9NewsMelbourne/videos/1887487228181596/

https://www.facebook.com/AustralianSocietyKangaroos/?ref=hl

TO HELP ASK CONTINUE THEIR WORK TO PROTECT AND SAVE THE LIVES OF MANY MORE KANGAROO FAMILIES -
- PLEASE DONATE TODAY!!!