The Redlands chalked up a shameful number of horse neglect and cruelty incidents last year.
RSPCA Queensland has reported that 30 cases from within this city were reported to them throughout 2016.
This equates to almost three incidents per month.
When met with animal cruelty, the reaction of most people is one of horror, disgust, or sadness.
Yet here we are, as a bayside community striving to welcome tourists, with at least 30 cases of animal cruelty having contributed to the RSPCA labelling 2016 as “a horror year for reports of horse neglect”.
Cruelty to horses was not the only animal welfare issue that put the Redlands under a dubious spotlight last year.
Local vets continuously reported the widespread dumping of kittens, and a report for the Environment Department revealed Redlands’ koala populations had crashed by 80 per cent from 1996 to 2014, and that they were probably in terminal decline.
The report indicated that, along with disease, dog attacks and car strikes, heavy development was a major cause of the decline, and protection measures appeared to have failed.
Clearly, they have.
Among them is the practice of off-set planting, in which new habitat trees are planted to replace those removed for development.
Off-set planting is fine in theory, but when it takes seven years for a koala habitat tree to become viable for the creatures, is it really a protection measure or is it an excuse to remove large swathes of mature habitat, which causes harm to the animals?
With the proposed Toondah Harbour development on the agenda, koalas in that precinct are being tracked in a 12-month monitoring program that aims to gather scientific evidence about the local koalas and their movements.
The study is essential so evidence about the koalas and their habitat cannot be dismissed by decision makers.
When it comes to animal protection, whether the animal under scrutiny is a koala, a horse or another species, the question to ask is what kind of community the Redlands wants to be seen as.
With multiple reported cases of horse neglect, kittens dumped by the box loads, and our koalas on the verge of dying out, the look is not great.
