Ravens murder lambs — farmer
A MORIAC farmer has accused a government organisation of being biased against farmers after he had to wait two weeks for permission to cull crows he says are killing his lambs.
The Department of Land Water and Planning (DELWP) has issued Daniel Briggs a permit to legally shoot Australian ravens on his property for one year.
Mr Briggs says the native birds killed two of his lambs recently, and mauled several others. The Australian raven is a protected species due to its native status, despite being quite commonplace.
DELWP had told the Geelong Advertiser and Mr Briggs that the Authority to Control Wildlife permit Mr Briggs needed to cull the growing local flock could take up to six weeks to approve.
Despite being granted a permit after two weeks, Mr Briggs said he faced doubt and scrutiny at every turn by DELWP authorities who did not believe the ravens were killing his lambs.
“While six weeks is too long — so is two weeks to wait for one of these permits when my lambs are dying right now.”
“I found the whole process quite awful, to be honest,” he said.
“The officer scoffed at me when I told him ravens were killing my lambs — you’ve got this entrenched bias facing applicants before they even start the process.
“The government’s inaction could have left my lambs out to die and horrific painful death without me being able to do anything about it,” he said.
“A lot of the time wildlife issues pose an immediate threat to people and animals, you can’t afford to wait.”
South Barwon MP Andrew Katos said this “unusual” case was an example of the need for a “pragmatic not bureaucratic” approach when considering control permits.
“Time is of the essence in a lot of these cases and you’ve just got to be sensible,” he said.
Luckily, no other lambs were attacked while Mr Briggs “had his hands tied” waiting for a permit.
“It’s all a bit annoying for a primary producer who has to through all this paperwork,” he said.