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An extension of the government's Kangaroo Pet Food trial has drawn reactions ranging from strong support to condemnation from central Victorians.
The trial has been extended for six months, during which time the Department of Land, Environment, Water and Planning will develop a Kangaroo Management Plan.
Read more: Kangaroo Pet Food Trial end looms
President of the Castlemaine-based Australian Society for Kangaroos Nikki Sutterby said it was distressing that the program had been implemented.
Kangaroo shooter Glenn Cole said the trial meant kangaroo carcasses were used which would otherwise be left on the ground.
The Kangaroo Pet Food Trial began in March 2014, allowing the meat of kangaroos killed in authorised wildlife control to be used for pet food. The initial trial was extended until 2018, and again until March 2019.
The latest extension takes the trial to September 30, at which point DELWP will implement a management plan.
DELWP found there was a sharp rise in the number of kangaroos approved for control in the trial areas.
Mr Cole said the permit to control kangaroos under the Pet Food Trial was better than the pre-existing Authority to Control Wildlife permit because the controls were monitored more tightly.
Ms Sutterby said research showed shooting was unsupervised, unregulated and that shooters did not follow the code of practice.
Currently-used euthanasia methods when applied correctly could be humane, but there were areas where improvements could be made, according to a report from the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.
Mr Cole rejected claims that shooters were cruel to joeys.
"If people are working under the code of practice. If there is a joey involved it will be smashed in a humane manner," he said.
"Anybody professional will destroy the joey in a humane manner. And we are allowed to shoot, decapitate or blunt force trauma to the head, that's under the code."
The kangaroo shooting industry was about profit not about population control, Ms Sutterby said.
She said there was no evidence that kangaroos destroyed crops or livelihoods.
Instead, Ms Sutterby said kangaroos were a critical part of the ecosystem, controlling the under-story of the forest to prevent wildfire.
"[Shooters] are overshooting on their permit. They're leaving the smaller kangaroos and the females dead in the paddock and going after the bigger ones that are going to give them more profit," she said.
"Kangaroos control their own breeding according to environment. There's research that shows that once kangaroos are in equilibrium in their environment, they control their breeding."
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