PRESS RELEASE: Australia rallies for Kangaroo Jack after entire shelter killed by dogs.

ANYTHING THAT ATTACKS MY CHILDREN…WHICH THEY ARE WHILE IN MY CARE. ATTACKS ME
● Kangaroo Jack’s Warrego Wildlife Rehab Hospital wiped out by roaming dogs.
● Huge community program proposes to build “Mad Max” style fortifications.
● One of Australia’s remote and unforgiving areas. A harsh place to live – an even harsher place to rescue.

Australia February 4th 2021. For immediate release.
These were the emotional words of wildlife carer Heather, who, with her partner Daemon, had just witnessed the distressing aftermath of the bloody and cruel mass slaughter of a mob of joeys that they had raised from being orphaned in their pouches, to having grown to being almost ready for release.

The joeys had been the victims of a pack of roaming dogs who had jumped the high fence of their sturdy kangaroo enclosure at the rescue centre during the night. The dogs had attacked and killed the defenceless and terrified joeys who had no means of escape. A kangaroo mob on the brink of release – wiped out. Just for the thrill of it.

Heather recorded the decimation of their precious joey mob in a poignant and moving video on that crisp morning in July 2020. Her anguish is evident in the catch in her voice, the tightness of her throat, and her barely audible sniffing as she tries to hold back the tears which surely must have been flowing uncontrollably all morning. Overhead, the high pitched screeching of a passing flock of cockatoos is interrupted by the mournful call of the black ravens; providing a plaintive lament for the lost joeys. The carnage that morning was nothing anyone should see and they will never forget.

No one knows the terror the mob would have felt as the dogs ripped into the enclosure and did their worst. But it left serious scars and damage to everyone involved. It took days for Kangaroo Jack to talk to anyone, weeks even. “You can save them from trucks, you can bring them in, but when they are killed in their own home what do you do…”

ARC has now begun fundraising to secure a fence for the yard. “So far it has been very hard to even find a contractor willing to do the fence work as the site is so remote, but we will do it”

The link for the fundraise is here – https://arcsupport.org.au/kangaroojack/ and overnight nearly Ten Thousand dollars has been raised.

Heather and her partner Daemon – aka Kangaroo Jack – are the founders, rescuers and carers at the Warrego Wildlife Rescue Rehabilitation and Education Centre in the small town of Mungullala in outback south-western Queensland. They rescue and care for all kinds of injured and orphaned macropods – including the endangered Black -Striped Wallaby, Eastern Grey Kangaroos, Euros or Common Wallaroos, and they rescue, accept and pass on bats, eagles, kites and other raptors and many other species to specialised carers.
Kangaroo Jack is a tough man in a tough outpost on the Warrego Highway. “We don’t ask much out here, we make do, we don’t need your help”. Warrego was set up to protect the animals he saw killed so many times on the roads.

How we met Kangaroo Jack
ARC met Kangaroo Jack early this year through his work, He had just driven 200kms to rescue a roo that he was notified of. His only option at that time, and with those injuries was a peaceful death. There was no fanfare, no heroic internet posts. Just one person helping someone at the end of their road.
So we got to know his story and the work of Warrego.
But this story is about those that he had saved – which were now lost…
Daemon got straight into researching fencing. So did ARC. “We know people that have done this before and built a solid environment to protect the animals and stop the dogs”
Weeks ticked by. It’s very hard in remote QLD to get a quote much less a contractor. Plans were looked at, then a quote came in.
$18000. For about 200m of fence. Admittedly, this is good fencing, serious support and concrete at the corners. But for a charity that raises its money by self-sufficiency at its roadside coffee stall, that is impossible.
And we don’t have time. We can’t wait 50 years to raise this money, we need it now.

We hope to not only build a fence but also build the shelter and home that Warrego deserves for years to come.

We are raising funds for this project here https://arcsupport.org.au/kangaroojack/
Destination: Mungallala….just saying it sounds like a lullaby. This sleepy town has a population of 136… and an abundant wildlife population that includes a mob of eastern greys who keep the grass at the local golf course mown. If you want to go there, go visit Warrego, grab a coffee from the isolated Coffee Cart, then get to work helping.

More about this project
Fundraising link https://arcsupport.org.au/kangaroojack/
ARC https://arcsupport.org.au/
Warrego Wildlife – https://www.facebook.com/WarregoWildlife

For further information
● Sharon Rigby, Media and Comms. ARC [email protected] 0417659788
● Kangaroo Jack Warrego Wildlife Shelter 0475 095 577 [email protected]
The Animal Rescue Cooperative (ARC) is a national volunteer group that rescues and supports rescuers nationwide.
The ARC team came together from groups of specialist Animal Rescuers, professionals, volunteers and wildlife workers, all with the same goals. To build a national capacity for supporting the broad rescue ecosystem. The ARC work in conjunction with peak bodies, major rescue organisations, thousands of individual rescuers and the care sector to respond with scale and help animals in need.
Find more information about how Animal Rescue Cooperative (ARC) is changing the face of animal rescue at arcsupport.org.au