Animal rights advocates are upset over a rural south Auckland school's "inhumane" possum-hunting fundraiser.
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The annual possum hunt is organised by Friends of Drury School, a parent-run organisation. Hunters are encouraged to kill as many possums as possible over three nights. The corpses are then brought in for a final weigh-in, with the fur sold as part of the fundraiser.
The Drury Possum Hunt Facebook page says hunting possums is "an important part of our rural way of life".
"BACK IN 2019 BY POPULAR DEMAND! The 2019 Drury Possum Hunt will be the 8th Annual Hunt and is shaping up to be the best one yet," it says.
"We have hunters with rifles, bow and arrow and even some gals who trap. All doing our bit for pest control."
Possums are considered pests in New Zealand, killing millions of native birds every year.
Previous hunts erupted in controversy after baby possums were drowned in a bucket. The practice drew the ire of the SPCA, which criticised the slaughter as being inhumane.
Animal rights advocate Dr Lynley Tulloch, who has a PhD in environmental sustainability, has started a petition calling on Drury School to cancel the "death-fest".
"Possum hunts teach young children that killing animals and glorifying in their deaths through prizegivings and other games is a good thing," she says.
"The message it sends to young children is animal lives are less important than human lives and we can celebrate their deaths. All animal lives matter and if pest control is necessary they should be given respect."
Dr Tulloch is particularly concerned about allowing the use of bow and arrows to hunt, which she says means the possums will suffer even more than being hunted with guns.
"My main concern is the animals might endure unnecessary suffering. Because possums are pest animals many see them as less worthy of humane treatment," she told Newshub.
"The possums themselves are held in no regard, and are killed through shooting, trapping and blunt force trauma, and the disposal of their joeys through stomping on them."
She's calling on the community to make a stand - and so far over 1200 people have signed her petition.
"Please raise your voice and join conservation experts and to tell Drury School that school possum hunts are not acceptable in today's world," she says.
"While Drury School have worked with the SPCA and said that no more joeys will be drowned, it still remains a death-fest. We want Drury School to cancel the event."
Newshub.
