Did you see that awful clip of the caged kangaroo in the middle of Rodeo Drive to celebrate G’day USA?
It was shocking and shamefully it took a Kiwi to draw it to our attention. Apparently poor Skippy was the main attraction for the Australian inspired week of celebration in Los Angeles. He was placed in a small cage with a thin layer of shaving over concrete. Apparently it was for the children, because we all know that absolutely anything can be justified if we say it’s for the kids.
Anyway Tourism Australia (and don’t they just keep on kicking goals) said that kangaroo was being looked after by professional Los Angeles animal handlers and was treated well while it was on display. They also said that American Humane (equivalent of Australia’s RSPCA) had seen the video and said the animal was not in distress.
OK then, that makes it all alright. If the organisation that allows fully grown lions to be caged in any US backyard says that it’s OK well it must be. Truth be known a large majority of people from the US still think we Aussies ride kangaroos to work and that they can be seen hopping down the main street of any town. Doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence in the knowlege of the people from American Humane.
This, coupled with the boxing kangaroo debacle of earlier this month, means that any kangaroo thinking about setting his passport for the US had better think again. The boxing kangaroo is nothing to do with the pseudo Aussie flag. No this boxing kangaroo was a circus act in Texas where the poor thing was dressed up in shorts and boxing gloves and goaded into fighting with its owner, dressed up as a clown. Obviously dressing in type.
Now people will come back and say things like don’t you (Australians) eat them and don’t you mass kill them and the answer is yes. Australia has millons of kangaroos and the unendangered ones are humanely culled. This is to protect farming land in times of drought and massive over-population, because to be frank, kangaroos breed like rabbits. Culling is conductd by licensed ‘roo shooters who operate under a quota. Carcasses are sold for meat, fur and leather. Me, I’ve never eaten kangaroo, but apparently it’s high in protein, low in cholesterol and ultimately organic. Wow that ticks some boxes.
So I guess my defence of the culling system must make me a kangaroo hater. Well no. My family is from the bush. I had a pet joey when I was younger. I’ve seen what ‘roo herds do to grazing land. I’ve also been to Australian themed zoos and patted and fed them. I’ll watch the occasional documentary on them and I amuse myself by agreeing with Americans that I catch a kangaroo to work.
However I have a problem with animals that should be allowed to run free like kangaroos, lions, tigers and so on, caged up and put on display and made to do magic tricks for the enjoyment of an audience. I think maybe Tourism Australia underestimates kids. Put a doco on a giant screen of kangaroos in their natural habitat. Kids will watch anything on a screen. Image
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