Don't shoot our brumbies!

Brumbies on a Cooloola Coast roadside

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THEY shoot horses don't they?

Well, yes they do and they have for quite some time.

But a seminar in Brisbane next month will aim to promote non-lethal control measures to rein in Australia's growing wild horse population.

That includes the many beautiful but sometimes dangerous brumbies that have made themselves familiar to Cooloola Coast drivers as they emerge from forestry along Tin Can Bay and Rainbow Beach Roads and the Maryborough-Cooloola Road.

A spokesperson for the organisers, the recently formed Australian Brumby Alliance, yesterday said the  seminar would “enable key players in the wild horse environment to explain their position on Brumby issues and gain an understanding of what could be done to humanely control Brumby numbers.”

The seminar will feature speakers from government, the scientific community and horse rescue groups.

“Brumbies continue to be shot throughout Australia,” alliance president Jill Pickering said.

“But the policy of 'Shoot, do nothing and then shoot again' does not work and is totally unacceptable,” she said.

“To break the shooting cycle we need to expand the use of non-lethal methods, such as fertility control and re-homing charities.

“Seminar participants will also learn about recent developments in multi-year vaccines that make fertility control a promising tool for the future. In order to develop the skill and understanding needed, we have to begin Australian trials on existing vaccines.”