Vets put down a koala seized from the Gunnedah Wildlife Park
Almost three weeks after eight koalas were seized from a Gunnedah Wildlife park, one of them is dead.
It’s been revealed one of the eight koalas seized by the RSPCA from Gunnedah’s Waterways Wildlife Park is dead.
The RSPCA says the animal was euthanized on Tuesday, after its condition rapidly deteriorated following a course of antibiotics.
The news was faxed to the offices of law firm Slater and Gordon, who is representing the park’s owners Nancy and Colin Small, late yesterday.
Gunnedah-based lawyer for the park’s owners, Peter Long, says the information is disturbing.
“These are koalas that on all of the evidence available left Gunnedah in good health,” he says.
“This koala is now dead with a coat that was just looking so fabulously healthy, and we’re just mystified why anybody would want to put down a koala 22 days later.”
Mr Long says the news is distressing to the park owner, who has yet been given any indication of why the animals were seized, or how she has broken the law.
Nancy Small, says she’s sad, but not surprised, and would like the body of the animal returned to the park.
“Yeah, I’d like it back, just to dig a hole and put her in the garden, like I did my old dog, with a plant on top,” she says.
The CEO of RSPCA New South Wales, Stephen Coleman, says the vets looking after the eight koalas seized from the park felt they had no option but to put the elderly koala down after some rapid deterioration in its condition.
“One of the independent expert veterinarians has determined this animal was in a condition that was cruel to keep it alive, and that animal will now be subjected to a post mortem,” he says.