The prime minister has dismissed as “pretty dopey” a plea from animal activist group PETA to spare the lives of mice causing catastrophic damage in rural NSW and parts of southern Queensland.
Farmers and people in regional towns have been struggling since last year with a mouse plague that’s continued unabated, ruining crops, damaging tonnes of stored hay and grain, infiltrating homes and tank water and causing millions of dollars of damage.
But PETA is arguing the mice should not be denied their right to food because of the “dangerous notion of human supremacy”, saying the government should provide a humane solution that allows the rodents to be trapped humanely before being released.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison said it was hard to see “the devastation and heartbreak” recently experienced by NSW farmers.
“It’s just one thing after another ... and apart from the comments being very insensitive to the plight of those farmers ... it’s pretty dopey,” he said.
Appearing on Sunrise to respond to the uproar, as seen in the video above, PETA’s Aleesha Naxakis said she’s “not anti-farmer” nor an “idiot that hasn’t been out of the city.”
“We know what’s going to happen, we understand what’s going to have to take place to resolve this issue and we’re not happy about it,” she said of plans to poison and trap the rodents.
“What we’re truly angry about is that now these mice are going to be suffering unimaginable painful deaths.
“They’re going to be choking, gasping for air, bleeding internally and if they’re lucky this will last hours - it could actually take days for them to die a painful and slow death.”
“What we are angry about is that this situation is not something that has just come up out of nowhere, it is something that should have been taken care of by the government a long time ago,” she added.
“Humane controls like humane trapping and birth control should have been put in place months ago, in fact ages ago, by the government in order to keep this situation under control.”
Naxakis conceded the plague “has become quite dire,” saying that she “completely understands the situation and how upsetting it has been for so many people.”
Last week, the NSW government responded to farmers’ pleas for help with a $50 million relief package that includes rebates and a promise to chemically treat grain to protect against the vermin.
The government is also seeking urgent approval from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority for approval to use bromadiolone - a new poison outlawed in Australia that’s guaranteed to kill rodents within 24 hours.