THE Broadford Mountain Brumby Sanctuary Inc’s (MBS) mission continues to save and rehome brumbies despite a parliamentary decision to declare further culling practices for the feral pests in its NSW national parks.
The Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act was introduced in 2018 by then NSW deputy premier and Nationals MP John Barilaro and it was coined the Brumby Bill. It offered the protection of the brumby herds to graze at Mount Kosciuszko National Park. However, the Brumby Bill was scrapped last year.
The protection of Mount Kosciuszko and its fragile eco environments underlies the decision. The new management plan is to reduce the herds numbers to 3000.
The MBS was established in 2020 by a small group of women determined to help stop the culling and rehome the brumbies. Many animal welfare advocates say the aerial shooting methods are cruel.
Clancy is one of the brumbies to have had an incredible journey at the MBS since he was rescued from the Bago State Forrest along with another brumby later named Valentine and many mares who were heavily pregnant with foals at the time.
Clancy and Valentine were about 15 months old when they were adopted and they lived a “charmed and relaxed” life elsewhere in Victoria. However, the mother and daughter surrendered the pair to the sanctuary in September last year as they could no longer care for them.
A short time later, Clancy developed a serious eye condition which snowballed into an abyss and some volunteers slept in their cars overnight to keep up with a critical two-hourly monitoring and medication regime prescribed by veterinarians.
Thanks to that outstanding care, Clancy can see again. The stromal absence in his eye has reduced without the need for a surgical procedure. However, the medical treatment bill has come in at $4000.
An MBS spokesperson said donations have reduced the ledger by almost $1400.
People are welcome to make donations to the Mountain Brumby Sanctuary Inc. BSB 633 000, account number 183 151 810.
The MBS is also on the lookout for volunteers and sponsors, especially an experienced horse handler to provide ground work for brumbies.
For more information, visit https://www.mountainbrumbysanctuary.org.au/
