Outrage over wild pony aerial cull at Singleton army base

People outraged over the aerial shooting of wild ponies at Singleton army base are vowing to vote with their feet at next year’s federal election.

They are taking to social media to express their disgust at the cull.

The wild ponies were decimated with gunshots fired out of a helicopter on Wednesday afternoon. It is believed most of the herd were killed.

Hunter Valley Brumby Association president Kath Massey was standing at the edge of the base when it happened and said it was one of the worst experiences she had ever had.

She couldn’t see the ponies being killed, but she heard the gunshots and saw the shooter hanging out of the helicopter at one point.

She said the area was full of scrub, which made her question whether the ponies were shot out in the open, or through the trees.

“It was shocking, honestly, it really was,” she said.

“Everyone could hear the chopper and the gunshots.

Previous experience will tell you that injured horses are a certainty, so we are telling people who are walking around the base, or Broke Road, if they see any injured horses to take photos, video and the location and send it to us anonymously. We need the evidence now that this was not humane and under no circumstances do we want the NSW government, particularly the Greens, to use this as a precedence elsewhere in the state.

Defence issued a statement on Thursday morning which confirmed the cull had taken place. Defence did not say when the cull happened, or admit it was done via aerial shooting.

Defence initially blamed the drought for the cull. Then Defence claimed the horses were environmental pests, had caused erosion, damaged vegetation and were a danger to staff at the base.

Video Courtesy of: Hunter Valley Brumby Association Inc

“The Department of Defence has substantially completed the feral horse population control measures in the Singleton Military Training Area,” the statement said.

Further verification will take place in the coming days before the measures are considered finalised.

In an unexpected twist, Ms Massey said Defence was now communicating with her – after ignoring her calls and pleas to stop the cull earlier in the week.

She said Assistant Defence Minister Senator David Fawcett’s office had stopped taking her calls. She also said Christopher Pyne’s office had not responded.

“People aren’t going to forget about this and we will be reminding them when the election is held next year,” she said.

“Neither Senator Fawcett or Christopher Pyne made any public statement about this, that’s not good enough.

“People are saying ‘they aren’t going to get my vote’.”

Article courtesy of FairFax Digital and The Maitland Mercury