SEA turtles and dugongs are being slaughtered by indigenous people during the "grace period" attached to new animal cruelty laws, welfare groups claim. While Torres Strait Islanders are allowed to hunt the animals under Native Titles Act laws, a video shot by a conservationist last year has revealed they are suffering horrendous deaths. Some turtles were videoed being smashed with concrete blocks, cut open and their fins removed while still alive. Dugongs were drowned by being towed tail-first behind a boat. In Queensland, Aborigines and islanders were exempt from animal cruelty laws until the state government removed the loophole last September - but the crackdown came with a grace period. "A 12-month grace period was granted when the new rules would generally not be enforced to allow time for adjustment," a spokesman for the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said. "This period allows for communities to be informed about the laws and to have an opportunity to consider whether their hunting practices comply with the laws or how they might be modified to do so." Conservationist Colin Riddell, of the Animal Coalition, said he was unaware of any other group or community in Australia where extreme animal cruelty was not being policed. dailytelegraph.au/news/nsw/torres-strait-islanders-hunting-animals-under-native-titles-act-slammed-by-animal-welfare-groups/story-fni0cx12-1226672204034
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 11:41:12 +0000
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