Cruelty by Neglect: Who Funds the Forgotten?
Every week, wildlife carers across Western Australia open their doors to the broken. Kangaroos with shattered limbs. Joeys orphaned by hit-and-run drivers. Birds, bats, and possums tangled in barbed wire, left to die slowly and silently. These animals don’t arrive from pristine bushland—they come from the margins of human carelessness and cruelty.
And yet, there is no funding for them.
Hit. Run. Forgotten.
Kangaroos are struck by vehicles every day. Some drivers stop. Many don’t. They leave behind mothers bleeding out on the roadside, joeys still alive in their pouches, waiting for help that never comes. By the time a member of the public notices, it’s often too late. Or they call a carer—someone unpaid, unsupported, and emotionally exhausted—who rushes to do what the system won’t. It’s cruelty!
Barbed Wire: A Silent Killer
Barbed wire fencing is still widely used across farms and properties, despite its devastating impact on wildlife. Birds break wings trying to escape. Bats hang trapped until they starve. Possums and gliders suffer horrific injuries. Kangaroos get twisted in loose wires left uncleared, panicking until they break bones or die of stress. These are not accidents. They are predictable outcomes of outdated practices. It’s cruelty!
Neglect Isn’t Neutral
When properties are left cluttered with wire, netting, and hazards, wildlife pays the price. When people don’t check pouches or call for help, joeys die. When cruelty is passive—when it’s easier to look away—carers are left to pick up the pieces. We treat the symptoms of a society that still hasn’t learned to coexist with the creatures who were here first. It’s cruelty!
The 72-Hour Rule: Ignored and Unenforced
Under WA’s Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2018, any member of the public who takes possession of injured or abandoned wildlife must, within 72 hours, hand it over to a registered carer, vet, or DBCA wildlife officer. This law exists to protect animals from well-meaning but untrained handling—and to ensure they receive proper care.
But in reality? Carers are still picking up wildlife days, weeks, even months later—often after irreversible harm has been done. The law is clear. The enforcement is not.
Who is overseeing these handovers?
Who is prosecuting the breaches?
Why are carers left to clean up the consequences of illegal possession?
This isn’t just neglect. It’s cruelty. And it’s happening under the radar.
Enabling systemic cruelty by omission
When governments approve large-scale land clearing for development without adequate planning for displaced wildlife, they’re not just making an environmental oversight—they’re enabling systemic cruelty by omission.
In Western Australia, policies like Bush Forever and State Planning Policy 2.8 were designed to protect regionally significant bushland, particularly in the Perth Metropolitan Region. But implementation has been patchy, underfunded, and often overridden by development interests. Even with recent federal investments like the $250 million “Saving Australia’s Bushlands” program, the scale of destruction continues to outpace protection.
When bushland is bulldozed:
Wildlife lose their homes, food sources, and shelter overnight
Injured and orphaned animals flood into the hands of volunteer carers
No formal systems exist to relocate, rehabilitate, or even monitor displaced species
Developers are rarely held accountable for the suffering caused
Cruelty isn’t just active harm—it’s also neglect, indifference, and failure to act when suffering is foreseeable. When governments approve clearing without wildlife management plans, without funding for carers, and without enforcement of relocation protocols, they are complicit in cruelty.
When Cruelty Is Legal: The Forgotten Kangaroos
We speak of cruelty as if it’s rare. As if it’s a mistake. But what do we call it when shooters aim and miss—leaving kangaroos to die slowly from gut wounds or shattered jaws? What do we call it when pouches go unchecked, and joeys are left to starve, cry, or crawl toward their dead mothers? What do we call it when the “approved” method of killing a joey is to bludgeon it to death?
We call it what it is: deliberate cruelty.
And we ask: Where is this in the Animal Welfare Act? Where are the RSPCA inspectors? Where is the justice for the joeys?
The Animal Welfare Act 2002 defines cruelty broadly, and penalties can reach up to $50,000 or five years in prison. But in practice, wildlife—especially kangaroos—are treated as expendable. The Act makes no specific provision for the welfare of kangaroos during commercial or sanctioned culling. Codes of practice exist, but they are not enforceable laws, and breaches are rarely investigated.
RSPCA WA has the authority to act on cruelty complaints, but enforcement is limited, under-resourced, and often focused on companion animals. Wildlife carers report cases. They send photos. They plead for action. And still, the silence persists.
This is not oversight. It’s abandonment.
We don’t need more codes. We need accountability. We need inspectors who respond to cruelty against wildlife with the same urgency they show for dogs and cats. We need laws that recognise the trauma of a joey beaten to death as equal to any other act of violence.
Until then, we will keep speaking. We will keep lighting candles. And we will keep naming what others won’t:
This is cruelty. And it is sanctioned.
What Needs to Change:
Mandatory wildlife impact assessments before any land clearing
Funded relocation and rehabilitation programs tied to development approvals
Legal accountability for developers who fail to protect or report displaced wildlife
Inclusion of wildlife carers in planning consultations and emergency response frameworks
Where Is the Funding?
This year, RSPCA WA received $7 million to enforce the Animal Welfare Act—a vital step forward for companion animals. But wildlife? Still invisible. Still unfunded. Still left to volunteers and donations.
Current Spending Snapshot
$500,000 was allocated in 2024 to RSPCA WA to subsidise the sterilisation of dogs and cats. This funding aimed to support up to 1,200 dogs and 500 cats.
An additional $1.1 million was distributed through the Animal Welfare Grant Program, supporting over 70 not-for-profit groups across WA. This includes funding for desexing, microchipping, rescue, rehabilitation, and wildlife care.
Specific grants include:
$50,000 to SAFE (Saving Animals from Euthanasia) for statewide desexing and microchipping across 11 branches
$50,000 to WA Pet Project’s Spay It Forward initiative, targeting vulnerable families and rural communities
What’s Missing?
Despite these efforts, there’s no consolidated annual figure published for total government spending on desexing and microchipping across WA. Much of the support is for targeted programs for concession card holders.
For wildlife carers, this means:
Funding is inconsistent and often inaccessible for wildlife carers or regional sanctuaries
Companion animal support is prioritised, while displaced wildlife from land clearing is rarely considered
Rural and remote areas remain under-served, despite high need
If cruelty is defined by suffering caused by human action or inaction, then much of our wildlife is living—and dying—in its shadow.
It’s time for change.
What We’re Asking For:
Dedicated funding for wildlife hospitals, carers, and rehabilitation centres
Education campaigns to reduce roadside cruelty and promote responsible fencing
Legislation enforcement for illegal possession and cruelty by neglect
Formal recognition of wildlife carers as frontline trauma responders
Access to funded counselling and mental health support
Inclusion in emergency response frameworks and wellbeing programs
Mandatory wildlife impact assessments before any land clearing
Funded relocation and rehabilitation programs tied to development approvals
Legal accountability for developers who fail to protect or report displaced wildlife
Inclusion of wildlife carers in planning consultations and emergency response frameworks
Wildlife care is not a hobby. It’s frontline trauma work. And it deserves the same respect, resources, and recognition as any other form of animal welfare.
This is Marnie. Her mother was killed during a cull—and Marnie was left behind in the pouch to die a slow, agonising death from starvation, dehydration, hypothermia, and predators. She was found just in time. This wasn’t an accident. It was an act of extreme cruelty—and it was illegal.