All people handling livestock, be they owners, managers, employees or contractors, have an ethical and legal Duty of Care to animals in their care. Australian state and territory laws may vary a little, but are all based on optimising welfare outcomes in animals and preventing cruelty. For example, if you have an animal that is unable to rise, it is incumbent on you to either call a veterinarian to treat the animal on that same day, or to humanely euthanise the animal on that day. It is not an option to leave the animal untreated.
Historically, use of a firearm was the method of choice for rapidly inducing irreversible unconsciousness and death in livestock. Firearms use and storage are stricly licensed in all states of Australia. On the other hand, penetrating captive bolt devices are now more readily available, relatively cheap and do not require licensing or special storage in Australia (check your state laws). [Note: using a knife to sever blood vessels in the neck to euthanise a camelid does not rapidly induce irreversible unconsciousness and may only be used in absolute emergency when no humane method is available.]
Cria Genesis offers courses in your district using the methods of veterinarian, Dr Tristan Jubb, to demonstrate how and when to use the Blitz-Kerner model of penetrating captive bolt in camelids. A theory session is followed by a practical session, where registrants are instructed how to handle, discharge and maintain the captive bolt.
Course participants have rated the training very highly. If you are interested in hosting and/or attending one of these courses, please contact Cria Genesis. Each course is strictly limited to 8 registrants.
