In a tawdry attempt to latch onto a phantom audience that supposedly wants to eat cats and toads, ABC TV has lurched onto the rickety bandwagon of B-listers killing and eating animals in the bush.
Attempting to persuade viewers to eat cane toads, deer, rabbits, and cats is futile and inane. These animals may not be native, but they’re still sensitive individuals, and their existence in Australia was initiated by human failures. Our lack of humanity is already apparent in our continued breeding, poisoning, and shooting of them; we really don’t need to add eating them to the list.
If the networks want to come up with some real innovative content, how about a series on collecting and preparing the wealth of edible plants, both native and introduced, with which we are blessed? Instead of promoting animal cruelty, the broadcaster could be helping to reduce it, as well as helping improve the health of the viewers and diminish the spectre of climate change from the meat industry.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
