Animal welfare groups have criticised a two-week jail sentence imposed against a man who killed 406 wedge-tailed eagles in Victoria as too lenient.
Farmhand Murray James Silvester was sentenced at Sale magistrates court on Monday after pleading guilty to poisoning the birds and hiding their carcases over two years while working at a property in Tubbut in East Gippsland.
He was jailed for 14 days and fined $2,500 for the destruction of protected wildlife. It is the first time anyone has been jailed for that offence in Victoria.
But Humane Society International said the sentence was out of step with public outrage over the killings.
Spokesman Evan Quartermaine said the sentence amounted to less than an hour of time served and just a $6 fine per eagle killed.
“This sentence is clearly inadequate and until punishments properly fit the crime in cases involving wildlife people who don’t value nature will be undeterred in their destruction,” Quartermaine said.
The maximum penalty for hunting, destroying or taking notable wildlife under the Victorian Wildlife Act is six months jail and an $8,000 fine, with an additional $800 fine payable for every head of animal killed. In this case, that would bring the penalty to more than $330,000.
Wedge-tailed eagles were gazetted as notable wildlife in Victoria in 1998. The maximum penalty for killing notable wildlife is 12 months jail and a $190,000 fine.
The ABC reported that the magistrate Rodney Higgins said the penalty would have been higher had Silvester not pleaded guilty to the two charges at the earliest possible opportunity and helped the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning investigate the killings.
The 59-year-old will be deported home to New Zealand after his release.
The court heard that Silvester reported his actions to authorities himself in May. He said he had killed the eagles by injecting Lannate, a carbamate insecticide, into lamb carcasses, and alleged he was instructed by another man, who is currently under investigation.
The department said it would not comment on the outcome of the case because it was subject to an ongoing investigation that may result in further charges.
Warning labels on Lannate pesticide state it is “very dangerous” to people, animals, and the environment, and specifically warns that it is dangerous to wildlife “including birds and fish”.
Melbourne University professor Philip Batterham, an insecticide expert, said carbamate insecticides target acetylcholinesterase enzymes in the nervous system.
“You interrupt the nervous system of the insect so that immediately leads to death,” Batterham said, adding that in larger doses it could be fatal to animals and humans.
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, which regulates the use of the pesticides, said it was “saddened” to hear of the deaths. It said the insecticide was safe and effective, if used according to instructions.
“In this case, the chemical was used in a manner not in accordance with label instructions,” it said.
“The APVMA regularly reviews chemical products when new scientific information suggests a change in the risks to human health, the environment, animal or crop safety, or trade. We have no plans to review Lannate following this deliberate misuse of the insecticide.”
Last week, a 20-year-old man from Cowangie in north-west Victoria was charged with animal cruelty offences for allegedly deliberately running over emus with his vehicle.