Kangaroo Beat Up in Australia

I was hoping to start this blog on a calmer post, with maybe an introduction or the reasons why I am starting it to begin with, but I have just been sent a news report from a friend in Australia, and need to vent about it.

It seems to be happening more often that a story pops up in the news about animal abuse that is so horrific that you can't help but stop and cry. Apparently a video was uploaded recently to a website showing a kid in Australia beating up a defenseless kangaroo.

For the full story, please see here. There is also a video that shows small clips from the film, but it is really hard to watch, so be warned.

I will never, ever understand how someone could do this. Or how others (this kid's friend) can stand around and video the event. Because the kangaroo is not just running away, but staying to defend itself, they suspect that it may have been injured before this kid started punching it. What really freaks me out is that I have a sinking feeling that these kids first hit it with their car (you can see the headlight lights of the car in the video), and then got out to torture it and film its abuse.

I can't even begin to describe how this makes me feel. The confusion that the poor animal must have felt at this sudden attack. The forethought that must have gone on for these kids to get out of the car, grab a camera, and begin. It really disturbs and upsets me, and that is such an understatement. I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach of anger, despair, rage, and fear. I feel choked up.

In trying to see a silver lining to this whole ordeal, I will say this: That this and other animal abuse stories are being widely published and reported on is a good sign for the animal rights movement. It is sad that hardly a week goes by without another horrific report of animal abuse/torture/neglect surfacing, but perhaps this media coverage shows a growing interest in what is happening to animals all over the world.

I can only hope that by this attention being drawn to these issues, slowly more and more people will come to see how wrong it all is, and with this groundwork laid then maybe some real changes can be made.

To anyone in Australia who may come across this, now or in the future: Please let me know if they catch the kid who did this, and good luck finding the bastard.