A local animal welfare charity is calling on Byron Council to support them in addressing the ongoing issue of rooster dumping in the Shire.
In a presentation to Byron Council this week, Julie O’Shea from ‘Who Gives a Cluck’, will ask for a range of measures to stop, or reduce, this cruel and resource-taxing practice.
Ms O’Shea told The Echo around 50 roosters had been dumped in the Shire in the past six months alone.
Particular hot spots included the Yelgun Rest Area off the Pacific Highway, and the area behind the Brunswick Heads Bowling Club. Parks in and around Mullumbimby were also notable dumping locations.
She said after years of volunteers rescuing dumped roosters, the group decided to be proactive.
Pilot program
Who Gives a Cluck is seeking help to undertake a pilot program in the Shire to stop the dumping of roosters.
This would include putting up large posters where roosters are commonly dumped asking people to refrain from the practice and including QR code links to information about alternatives to dumping. The charity is also calling on Byron Shire Council to introduce significant fines for rooster dumping as both a deterrent and a way of sending a message that the practice is taken seriously.
Another important aspect of rooster dumping that a pilot program would address, Ms O’Shea says, are the issues that stem from hatching programs in pre-schools and primary schools.
She says while the intention for hatching programs is well-meaning, ‘unfortunately what happens is that a few weeks after the chicks have hatched, the parents end up being encouraged to take them home.
‘Then a month or so after that they discover that the chick they’ve taken home is a boy, and that not only will it not lay eggs, but that there are clear regulations stating that you can’t have roosters in urban areas’.
Ms O’Shea and her group want to offer schools and pre-schools alternative ways for kids to learn about hatching that don’t involve producing more unwanted roosters.
For more information or to get involved visit www.whogivesacluck.org.
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