A few months ago I was driving home and had a small brain fart.. I thought, hmmm – I dont think I want to sell Roo products anymore. At the time they were our biggest sellers – so it wasn’t an easy decision.
What some people don’t realise is that a significant portion of kangaroo culling is driven by the pet food industry. Some cull quotas are even dedicated as pet-food only programs. This means these animals are being specifically killed to feed our dogs – and that just doesn’t sit well with me.
This year (2021) the Kangaroo Harvest Quota increased by nearly 40,000 to 95,680 – and that’s just in Victoria. And in the last 18 months 86 kangaroo harvesters and 5 pet meat processors ave taken part in the pet-food only program.
I dunno about you, but I reckon there are plenty of alternative meat sources, with just as many benefits to our dogs – from animals that have already died to feed humans first. To me, it seems off to go out and take a life just to feed our dogs.
Besides, I think kangaroos are kinda cool. With so many being killed on our roads and wiped out my the bushfires – I don’t think we should kill them so they can go straight to pet mince. I feel like they deserve a bit better than that 🤷♀️
Also, from a business perspective, it was a really dumb decision. Roo is cheap to buy, has a big profit margin and is easy to sell – there’s no wonder pretty much every pet food or treat business has it in stock.
But sometimes you’ve just gotta do what feels right – you know? 😳
Seeing as the roo products were always sop popular with our customers, I sourced some fantastic and suitable alternatives – rather than leaving y’all in the lurch. Instead of Roo Tails we now have Lamb Neck Splits (great, meaty chews!), instead of Kanga Tubes we have Moo Tubes and the Roo Liver Jerky has been replaced by Goat Liver Jerky.
So there we have it, that’s where we’re at – and I genuinely hope you’re on board with these changes… Or at the very least this has provided a decent explanation for you.
Edit: Since I first mentioned this, there have been a few questions. A few have popped up more than once, so I’ve answered them below 👇
Isn’t this better than leaving them to rot in the paddock?
Well no, that’s not really how the system works.
Professional roo shooters wouldn’t have any incentive to go out and shoot them, if they weren’t collecting carcasses and getting paid for the meat. It’s not uncommon for farmers to shoot roos on their own property but a) that’s on a pretty small scale and b) it’s unlikely they’d have the systems and licensing in place to collect and sell these carcasses anyway.
There’s a massive population issue with kangaroos. They’re better off being killed for pet food – otherwise they’ll die slowly of starvation.
Nah, I call bullshit on this one.
There just aren’t the population numbers for this to happen. Sure, nature will take it’s course in times of drought and farmers will understandably get cranky when kangaroos compete with their livestock for feed.
But weird fear mongering like this is just a pretty desperate way to justify roo harvesting in huge numbers.
Q: How can you favour one life over another?
I guess this is where it gets a bit tricky. I’m the first to admit that it’s my personal ethical compass that comes into play here and it may not resonate with you.
But here goes..
Us big, bad human beings are at the top of the food chain. As such I’d rather salvage the leftovers from the human consumption industry to feed our pets.
Secondly, I’m more inclined to source products from introduced species, especially ones which are having a detrimental impact on the environment.
For example our Wild Rabbit products come from an existing program where rabbits are eradicated from local vegetable farms. Until we started buying them, the rabbits were just dumped in burn pits…. Also rabbit meat is pretty much the most biologically appropriate source of protein for dogs… so it kinda worked out well.
Often these motivating factors work in together. For example the goat and camel products we sell are by-products from human consumption AND are declared feral animals. Two birds, one stone and all that.
Thank you so much for writing this article, it’s so good to hear that at last, the truth about the industry is getting out to the public, it has been covered up for so long.
I have been fighting for kangaroos for over 20 years and I hope you don’t mind if I give you some links to help you understand the incredible pressure being placed on our kangaroos.
https://kangaroosarenotshoes.org/
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/#inbox/FMfcgzGkXmhwjbgJNMHlVlxvbZfGRpsx
http://thinkkangaroos.uts.edu.au/
https://www.australiaskangaroos.org/
Best wishes
Cienwen
Wonderful for no longer selling roo meat.I hang my head in shame as once i brought roo meat ,but no longer there is plenty of alternatives
thankyou for this!! sometimes I feel I’m the only one who gives a crap about our native animals. I believe there will come a time when roos are endangered.
bless your business and your family for this, you just made my day.
xxoo Monica
I like your way of thinking and your ethics. I don’t have a dog at the moment and never fed her Roo meat either 😢
Great read and I totally agree with you. I won’t feed my animals any kangaroo parts but I’m happy to feed them beef and chicken etc; If I could source rabbit I would definitely use that as a food source’ God knows they chase enough of them. I wish they could catch them.
I really thank you for taking this step..it has become very difficult to buy pet food without native animals in it…we have 2 dogs ..do you supply to NSW..
Thank you thank you thank you Gully Road 🙏🙏🙏.
Your decision to no longer use kangaroo parts gives me hope that others may follow. I will recommend your products whenever I can.
Thank you Gully Road for making the decision to stop selling kangaroo products. Thank you for posting your knowledgeable explanation and for answering peoples questions, hopefully you can help to re-educate people to question the lies and demonisation brainwashing this nation. I too think kangaroos are cool, I love them. I am mortified, depressed and angry at how the majority of Australians blindly believe the cultural justification for the demonisation, abuse, killing and now exploitation of our poor kangaroos for pet food, human consumption and K-leather – all condoned and pushed by Australian governments. I am horrified at the cruelty they endure Australia wide, and I fear terribly for the future of our poor kangas. Australia has and is failing our kangaroos, they are homeless because most land in Australia is privately owned, since Colonialisation many species of macropods have been pushed to extinction, and I have no trust in Australian governments to prevent more extinctions. The book ‘Injustice: hidden in plain sight the war on Aust nature, kangaroo, koala, emu…hunted, sold, homeless…where lies truce, healing? by Maria Taylor, was published this year and I wish all Australians would and governments would read this, because Australia needs to change!
One thing people do not know according to science paper I have read roo meat has two natural things in it that can cause up to 5 diseases. Also the government is breaking the law by letting people kill the kangaroos they are the people’s animals and they bring alot of tourists to us they are not breed and do not eat grass to the ground like sheep and cows do.if it was legal you would not need a licence a number of golf course are happy to have Roos on there land as they do not damage the ground.
Kangaroo are my Family Totem. As an Indigenous Documentary Journalist & Educator I want you say Thankyou. Thank you so very much for no longer supporting the profit driven barbaric commercial Kangaroo Killing Industry Much respect to you all for taking that stand.
This is great to hear, I have been searching for a pet food source that doesn’t sell our kangaroos, I think I have found them.
What you have said makes the best sense, but if the profit margins are high then it won’t end until they have decimated the kangaroo population to nil😪
Every country in the world has buildings, bridges, roads, countrysides, nice houses and old falling apart ones, concerts, fireworks, restaurants, and all types of foods, faces some friendlier than others. So, they don’t need to expend their savings to come to Australia and the main reason they come to visit is to experience – some only once in their lifetime – the unique wildlife that Australia has been blessed with.
“Australia is NOTHING without the wildlife “~IL
Very few countries have the diversity of animals that Australia is blessed with.”Australia’s shame! Animal Cruelty in Australia is a National Disgrace.
Their actions are purely out of “power-hunger, greed, arrogance, corruption, ignorance and savage cruelty”.They should hang their heads in shame. ~ IL
The Australian parliamentarians and the people that voted for them have their hands stained with the blood of an Australian ICON. They are destroying the wildlife, our own native animals! What does that say about us as a country? “Australia is NOTHING without the wildlife”.~IL
Love this, I hate it every time I see roo meat for sale. They are our native animals. I am sure the pet food industry does not need roo meat. Well done on deciding to not to sell this anymore.
Thank you. From the bottom of my heart thank you. Thanks for having a moral compass, compassion and empathy for these beautiful defensless kangaroos. Huge respect💞
Abbatoirs Would have plenty of offal that could be used for Pet food, humans are not buying offal for consumption it’s not popular.
Aunty Ro, one of our First Nations people that I respect, has posted on her Instagram that you’ve done a 180 on stocking kangaroo products. THANK YOU! The way Roos are killed is barbaric, including clubbing of unfurred joeys and I hope your decision inspires other small businesses to follow in your footsteps. Thank you !
Great article. I copied and pasted it onto comments on FB page of People Against Killing Kangaroos. I can remove it if you do not want it there. Very pleased you mentioned alternative sources of meat for pet food suppliers. Basically use all the left over products from the introduced species of animals in Australia e.g. goats, cattle, sheep, camels, horses, poultry, rabbits, pigs etc. There is no reason to kill wildlife when there is such abundant sources of meat products on hand. Thank you.
Thank you to Gully Road Pet Food for your ethical and caring decision to stop selling kangaroo products.
Australia and the world at large needs businesses to care about wildlife and environment, as you have done.
I am myself a vegan however I feed meat/animal products to my family of rescued dogs and cats and I appreciate the way you are sourcing animal ingredients for your products.
Kindest regards and once again, thank you.
Tanya Urago
I am truly upset and frustrated that you can easily say kill these gentle creatures for dog food they need to be protected not to be slaughtered and for dog food that’s unthinkable you are allowing kangaroos to be killed off they are Australian icon animals they are so gentle and sweet creatures they have a strong bond like all families to say is very frustrating they aren’t pest they are loved all over the world to say that you are cold blooded person…
Concerned citizen,
Ji Montgomery
Totally bewildered by your comments… Did you read the article? Hell, you could just have read the title and seen that we are in fact, NOT selling kangaroo meat. Cheers, Jemima The Cold Blooded Person 🙄
Hey Shelley, thanks for sharing it. I would have preferred if you directly linked the article to our website or social media but whatever gets the message out there 👍
Not if consumers stop buying it 😜….consumers wield a lot of power by just making careful purchasing decisions and not being afraid to ask questions 🙂 I’m sure a lot of people aren’t aware of the intricacies of kangaroo culling but hopefully that awareness is growing and they will be able to decide if it’s something they want to support or not 🙏
Hi Jack, that’s great news 🙂 We send our treats all over Australia but at this stage the raw food is only available in Melbourne and surrounds. Cheers, Jemima
Can’t thank you enough!! As a dog owner seeing all the kangaroo dog food makes me physically ill & its been a reason why I’ve considered not having dogs in the future once my two elderly rescue babies are gone. Your company gives me hope. I feel absolutely disgusted that we are slaughtering our beautiful kangaroos for pet food. Hope you sell more products in NSW, you’ll have a permanent customer in me while I have dogs if so! Hopefully other companies follow your path too. Thank you so so much!!!!
Thanks so much for changing your mind with the kangaroos being brutally killed. Often by untrained I live in the Uk and I’m horrified at what Iv learned in the last year. So glad you have done this. Thanks x
Well said!
Thankyou again Gully Road for no longer supporting the profit driven barbaric commercial Kangaroo Killing Industry. As I’ve mentioned Kangaroos are Totem to many of we Indigenous people & I wanted to share with you my Opening Statement in the recent NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the devastating situation occurring to our Kangaroos not just up here in NSW but nationally.
https://www.facebook.com/greencate/posts/356606315828737
This is also the Opening Statement from Yuin Indigenous Elder Uncle Max Dulumunmun Harrison https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=386967812742512&_rdr
Many thanks & I will continue to promote your business across Social Media.
Thank you so much – you rock! If only everybody thought like you do I wouldn’t worry so much about the joeys I raise and release.
This was a real eye opener for me. I knew the pet food industry was a billion $ profiting business with little concern for the animals they’re targeting but I never considered ethically sourcing meat and fish products. I’ve been getting a lot of raw roo meat for my doggy but now will reconsider before I buy. I encourage you to keep up the great work and continue your plight to make a difference. If enough people get on board then the industry will eventually have to take note and change it’s ways, after all, raw feeding now seems to be taking off so much that the pet food industry are starting to get worried (and so they should).PS my bubba loves rabbit 🐇 but she wouldn’t eat a whole frame, she’s such a princess, any chance you could cut the frames I halves before DH?
Kill the lot. Dirty pests of things
Jordan,I’d very strongly suggest you take a look at yourself given Kangaroos are Indigenous to Country unlike yourself. Your comment of disconnected colonialism also shows you not only have absolutely no clue about Kangaroos but also shows you have no respect for Gully Road & their credible stand against a completely unethical & dangerously unhygienic profit driven government industry. I’d also very strongly suggest you read the findings of the recent NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the Health & wellbeing of Kangaroos & other macropods in New South Wales & watch the segment on ABC 7:30Report in which Shooters are also condemning the Commercial Kangaroo Killing Industry. In closing I’d say…grow up Jordan & if you have a problem with any of our Indigenous Wildlife who unlike you,belong here,then feel free to leave. Keep up the great work Gully Road you have the support of thousands. And just for you Jordan I’m going to promote Gully Road again right across Social Media.
Cheers,
Aunty Ro.
Wow I just came across this article and love it. Obviously this person, however failed to read it and like all keyboard warriors just decided to Karen Up and air her views. 🙄 Someone looks just a little silly now don’t they? 🤔