Don’t kill the mice: PETA cause backlash among Aussie farmers
An animal rights organisation has been called out for demanding farmers stop killing the mice running rampant on their properties in regional Australia.
Millions of rodents have been destroying crops and stored hay and grain across large parts of inland NSW and southern Queensland over the last six months, despite floods and tonnes of poisons being deployed to reduce numbers.
Even if grain’s in silos, mice can get to it. Like Tyler Jones discovered in Tullamore when cleaning out the auger and it started raining mice #mouseplague #mice #australia pic.twitter.com/mWOHNWAMPv
— Lucy Thackray (@LucyThack) May 12, 2021
A spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) pleaded with farmers this week to not kill the animals, arguing that exterminating them promoted the “dangerous notion of human supremacy”.
“These bright, curious animals are just looking for food to survive,” PETA Media Officer Aleesha Naxakis told NCA NewsWire.
“They shouldn’t be robbed of that right because of the dangerous notion of human supremacy.”
Instead of using “cruel killing methods” that subject “innocent mice to unbearably painful deaths”, Naxakis said farmers should employ humane methods to control the outbreak.
“We urge farmers to avoid poisoning these animals,” she said.
“This cruel killing method not only subjects innocent mice to unbearably painful deaths, but also poses the risk of spreading bacteria in water when mouse carcasses appear in water tanks.
“Instead, humane traps allow small animals to be caught gently and released unharmed,” she added.
Naxakis’ comments have drawn fierce backlash from farmers and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who said PETA were “idiots who have never been outside the city.”
“The real rats in this whole plague are the people who come out with bloody stupid ideas like this,” he said, according to news.com.au.
“Their thinking around this is reprehensible, when you have farmers struggling,” he continued.
“You have these people who have never left the city and wouldn’t know if their backside was on fire, then all of a sudden they’re telling farmers what to do?
“The only good mouse is a dead mouse.”
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro also said the comments from PETA’s spokeswoman were “ridiculous” and an “insult” to farmers currently struggling.
“I would laugh if it wasn’t so serious,” Mr Barilaro said.
“I will not entertain PETA’s ridiculous concerns. Mice are pests. They are destroying crops and farming businesses, and the mental angst they are causing familiers is real.”
Ben Storer, a farmer in north-west NSW, has lost 800 hectares of his sorghum crop and been left with upwards of $200,000 in damage caused by the pests.
“Every morning you get up and pull 400 dead mice out of your pool and out of your filters, and you know, that sort of thing takes a bit of a toll on you,” he told The Guardian.
Baiting is the only large-scale method of controlling mice populations, but farmers still feel for the creatures.
Farmer Graham Jones said: “People think farmers don’t have a heart, but they love their animals. I’m sure everyone wants to be killing the mice in a human way.”
Image credit: 9NEWS