The Animal Justice Party NSW has hit back at the State Government today regarding their plans to ease restrictions on shooting deer, saying that the knee-jerk response is irresponsible, unethical, and sets a dangerous precedent for how animal populations are managed in the state.

As revealed in the Daily Telegraph and by ABC News this morning, the plan to allow anyone with a gun licence to shoot deer in New South Wales has already received cabinet support, but will still need to go through the Upper House where the Animal Justice Party currently holds two seats.

“Allowing anyone with a firearms licence in New South Wales to shoot deer is beyond irresponsible. The Berejiklian Government must rethink this cruel and unethical decision immediately,” said Teresa Romanovsky, Deputy Convenor of the Animal Justice Party NSW.

“The Animal Justice Party and our supporters are outraged that our Premier expects the people of New South Wales to support the unregulated slaughter of animals.

“This is an alarming knee-jerk response from a Government that has no long term plan to humanely manage introduced species in our State.

“Aggressively killing animals is not the way to sustainably reduce population numbers and protect our natural environment. We need real and in depth immunocontraceptive research so we can learn how to humanely reduce the number of introduced species here in New South Wales.

“We will be fighting this cruel and unethical regulation both in and out of Parliament. Mindless killing of animals should never be on the Parliamentary agenda.

“Ethical and sustainable planning is the only way to protect both our animals and our environment,” said Ms Romanovsky.

MEDIA CONTACT: ROSINA RAYNS, 0401 991 792

9th July, 2019