Sad find in dam sparks warning about daily problem in Aussie bush
Scratched, tired and frustrated, after an hour chasing an animal with a busted leg through the bush, Manfred Zabinskas believes something needs to change. Like clockwork, he'll get a call every day that roaming pet dogs have attacked a kangaroo, inflicting serious wounds that need to be treated.
When the veteran wildlife rescuer spoke with Yahoo News on Wednesday, he had an orphaned joey in his hands that he was trying to keep warm as cool evening air set in.
'The dog ripped the joey out of her pouch. He leg was hanging off by a thread of skin. And I lost her in an ocean of blackberries and lamandra,' he said.
'I just had to give up and leave her to the foxes. It's sh**.'
Just yesterday, he took in a juvenile kangaroo that had been chased into a dam by two dogs.
'They were from a neighbouring property and were allowed to roam by their irresponsible owners,' he wrote on social media last night.
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The youngster was brought into their care after it was pulled from the mud.
'The little kangaroo joey was exhausted, cold, caked in mud, and terrified. His eyes bulged with fear, but he was too weak to fight or to resist yet another plunge into water,' Zabinskas wrote.
'But this time, the water was warm and soothing, and there was no barking from predators. As we washed the little boy, filthy water flowed from his body, and the fear gradually flowed from his eyes.'
Related: Today show slammed for joking about kangaroo attacked by dog
Speaking later with Yahoo, Zabinskas confessed that 'things are tough'. If the joey he was holding survives, it'll need regular feeding for a year, something that's hard for most busy people to commit to.
While many pet owners do the right thing. Sadly there are many who think it's natural for their dogs to roam in the Australian bush, where they attack and chase marsupials that evolved without the skills to avoid these introduced predators. He's issued a plea for dog owners who visit or live in the bush to do the right thing and keep their pets under supervision.
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With his Five Freedoms Animal Rescue shelter already full, he's unsure how he's going to find the time to care for his latest arrivals. Everyone else who volunteers their time to care for the animals around Trentham, northwest of Melbourne is in the same situation.
'We've run out of homes for the joeys,' Zabinskas said. 'I don't know what we're going to do. But it is what it is.'
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