AVA joins calls to ban duck hunting in Victoria

As part of an updated AVA policy on waterfowl hunting, which opposes the use of shotguns due to their negative impacts on animal welfare, the AVA has called on the Victorian Government to outlaw recreational duck hunting. In Victoria, the ‘open season’ allows legal shooting of ducks and other waterfowl between specific dates in March and June of each year. A ban on duck hunting in Victoria would bring the state in line with the ACT, NSW, Queensland and Western Australia.  

A study in Victoria reported that up to 33 per cent of hunted birds were wounded in shooting, but not retrieved – resulting in crippling injuries such as wing, bill and leg fractures. A radiographical study spanning 20 years reported that between 6% and 19% of trapped live ducks (of mixed species) had embedded shot.

“As veterinarians, our goal is to protect the health and welfare of animals,” AVA president Dr Bronwyn Orr says. “Hunting ducks with shotguns often results in non-fatal injuries [resulting in] an ethical animal-welfare problem. We are calling on the Government to take swift action and follow the suite of other states and territories that have banned duck hunting altogether.”

To read the AVA’s updated policy on waterfowl hunting, please click here.