Saving Australia's Kangaroos One by One

G'day.

Every week in my area of Queensland alone, over 10,000 Kangaroos, Wallabies and Wallaroos (Macropods is the general term - it means "Big Foot), are slaughtered to provide dog food to people who either don't know or don't care and skins for shoes from Nike and Adidas.

Warrego Wildlife is one of 6 wildlife care organisations in outback Queensland. We do not receive any funds from the government to support our work with wildlife, though we can apply for grants for equipment and some other costs. We cannot get grants ever, for our ongoing costs. So nothing for feed, nothing for veterinary expenses).

If a doe (a female macropod) is shot and she has a joey, the joey is pulled from the mother's pouch and killed manually. 5 other states and territories in Australia also slaughter at a rate that makes this the biggest slaughter of Wildlife, anywhere on the planet.

The official code of practice for the killing of joeys had been ridiculed by the European Parliament as being so far from humane as to be nonsense. The practice is supported by all political parties except the Animal Justice Party which is the only party including the Greens, that stand up for animal welfare in Australia.

Several times a week I take my four-wheel drive and my drone out, looking for active shooting. I put the drone up looking for animals being killed then drive and walk along fences looking for joeys who have escaped and I bring them home. It's not uncommon to find them weighing only 900 grams - about 1.5 pounds.

This swamp wallaby joey was 700 grams. 1 pound, when I found him running a fence to escape the shooting. His mother is a protected species.

I have a little coffee cart I take out on the highway and make great coffee 20km from the nearest population centre 6 days a week. Fine in tourism season, but now with temperatures of 40 degrees plus, there are few travelers due to the heat. This is the reason for this fundraiser.

All the money used to feed my 25 macropods in care comes from the coffee cart and my pension. I need help.

If you can assist me with this, please, please do so. The animals I have in care need your assistance no matter how small an amount. And please, also ask your friends if they can help.

Our monthly needs are:

Cool and calm grain mix - 4 bags per week $30.80 per bag.

Wambaroo formula - 5kgs per month - $170

Lucerne Hay - 4 bales per week at $29 per bag.

Fuel - $140 per week for rescues, the coffee cart and driving to release animals.

Vehicle registration - $60 per month.

Please help.