2021-11-23
The ACT Greens have moved to create legislation on household netting requirements so that animals are no longer caught, injured or killed in people’s yards.
Quotes attributed to Jo Clay MLA, ACT Greens spokesperson for Animal Welfare:
The ACT Greens value animals as sentient beings who deserve to be free from direct and indirect harm. We want animals to be able to enjoy their lives, and to remove any obstacles that threaten their safety.
People use netting over their backyard fruit trees to protect their produce. But unfortunately, netting that has too wide a gauge traps grey-headed flying foxes, possums, snakes, birds and other precious wildlife. When animals are injured by netting, it takes a long time for them to recover and causes them much distress and pain. Many won’t survive the experience.
Last year 71 flying foxes were retrieved from netting in people’s backyards. The grey-headed flying fox is a threatened native species that goes searching for food at night time. If one is caught, it can be hours or days until the flying fox is discovered. It causes unnecessary pain and suffering for the animals and it’s upsetting for wildlife carers and residents.
But there is a simple solution to this problem. Many outlets already stock animal-friendly netting and it is widely available. My motion asks the ACT government to mirror steps taken in Victoria earlier this year to ensure that we are only using animal-friendly netting. We are asking for legislation and an educational program to put this in place. A crucial part of this motion is helping residents replace old netting with animal-friendly netting. The animal-friendly netting has a narrower gauge of no more than 5mm x 5mm, which means wildlife is much less likely to be trapped. We also want to make sure that the old netting is properly disposed of so it doesn’t cause more problems out in the environment.
I have called for an implementation date of 1 January 2023 to allow plenty of time for the legislation and programs to be developed in consultation with the community and ACT Wildlife and to assist residents to make this transition.
Quotes attributed to Denise Kay from ACT Wildlife:
Rescuing flying foxes is a risky job undertaken by a few dedicated volunteers. We are legally required to be vaccinated before we can handle bats, and we need to climb trees to get them out. I’m 73 years old, but I do this for the love of these magnificent animals.
At the moment the netting we are cutting bats out of is atrocious, we really want to see some decent netting on the market and assistance with the cost for people to change over.
It is very expensive to look after injured flying foxes, each adult consumes 500g of fruit a day, then there is the cost of medication. Trying to find a vet who is appropriately vaccinated and prepared to see a flying fox is also near impossible.
With climate change we are seeing more and more flying foxes move to the ACT and that isn’t likely to slow down. This better quality netting is safer for the flying foxes and the rescuers who risk their safety climbing trees. It would be very welcome and we are hopeful to see this commitment from the ACT government in the near future.
