By Tanya Faulkner
Members of the Cockatoo community are taking a stand in the name of animal welfare.
Several complaints have been raised on various Facebook groups within the Cockatoo, Emerald and Gembrook surrounds about the consistency of loose animals on the well-known Strawberry Corner.
In the past month, at least 10 posts have been made on Facebook by concerned community members of a loose cow on the side of the road, alerting other road users to be cautious.
These posts add to the countless reports of livestock and wandering animals that have been made over the last decade, at all hours of the day and night, due to poor fencing.
In some instances, cows have been seen falling from the embankment and dying as drivers have watched helplessly, or have died due to neglect or illness – the most recent being a deceased calf along the fence line earlier this month.
Dogs have also been spotted on this corner, with little evidence of any change, or hope for these animals seen by the community.
In light of these events, a private Facebook group and petition have been created in advocacy of the animals that reside on the nearby farm.
Samantha May, who has been the driving force behind the welfare support for these animals, said enough is enough.
Her involvement came from an incident earlier this year, and since then has been advocating for these animals as much as she can.
“I was driving home from work one day and saw a baby calf on the embankment, so I stopped to help it.
“A gentleman and another lady helped me get the calf back up, and a council person took the calf away, even though the mother cow was crying out for the baby.
“The council staff wouldn’t give it back to its mum,” she said.
Ms May said they were the most heartbreaking cries you can imagine.
“I went home covered in mud and cow poo, and I was so upset that this continues to happen so often, so I decided to take a stand,” she said.
In the following days she would drive past the corner, and saw the mother cow pacing up and down the fenceline looking for her calf.
She said she is still not quite sure what has happened to the calf since then, whether it is still alive and has been sold on, or passed away.
“I tried contacting the council to try and get updates on the calf, and they just said he was fine and being taken care of in home environment then would be sold at stockyards.
“I asked if there was a way to buy him or how to go about buying something from stockyards, so he could be returned to his mother or cared for properly, but they wouldn’t really tell me anything, so I kept leaving messages,” she said.
When councils take livestock, they must hold them for eight days to give the owners a chance to recover the animal, or they are passed on to the appropriate authority.
Ms May said there have been so many horror stories being shared and creating more awareness about the corner, with locals seeing more instances of neglect and cruelty from the farm in question.
Several other concerned members of the community are getting behind Ms May and her efforts, with many of them doing what they can to reach out to the owner, but with no luck.
Ms May said they’ve also seen dogs on the side of the road or causing trouble at the property, which opened up another can of worms about the farm.
“New reports seem to keep coming up regularly on Facebook, and people keep seeing three dogs at the property even after being told there’s no dogs,” she said.
Ms May’s concerns, like many in the community, are whether any investigations have been undertaken at the property.
“We are not able to get any information from the RSPCA or the Department of Agriculture as to what’s happening at the farm.
“The authorities just keep giving generic responses that it’s being investigated and can’t provide any information due to privacy,” she said.
The concern is widespread as the community feels nothing is being done.
The petition that has been launched in recent weeks stated “for too long reports and complaints have gone unheard, with no clear action being taken by authorities”.
At the time of writing, the petition had collected 209 signatures, with hopes to achieve more.
Locals are being asked to sign the online petition to support the proper investigation and removal of livestock and other animals from this property, believing the owners of the farm are constantly committing offences under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986.
More recently a GoFundMe page has also been launched to raise funds for a calf that has been found on the corner in poor condition, which has raised over $1,000 for the calf’s recovery.
Another concerned local, said numerous animals have died at that farm, and said she’d helped rescue a cow from the corner but it had to be put down.
“The coroner said the cow had a rare form of pneumonia and it was really skinny.
“Two of us girls were able to push her into a float, she was that small,” they said.
They said the farmers who own the place just don’t seem to care, and don’t seem to have any real concern for their animals’ welfare.
“When you look at the farm from the road, there’s just rubbish for hundreds of meters, broken down cars with plants growing out of them, and literal garbage just strewn across the top paddock,” they said.
The community is said to have had enough, and there is real concern in the air as we head into calving season, as to how those animals will survive.
The local said there didn’t appear to be enough grass or feed available for the animals, which they believe is why the animals continue to wander.
Cockatoo and the wider community are pleading for the authorities to pay attention to their concerns, and carry out the correct investigations.
Cardinia Shire Council’s manager regulatory services Owen Hardidge said that council is aware of reports regarding cows wandering at Strawberry Corner.
“We are often unable to take action on dealing with wandering livestock unless it is reported directly to us.
“We are unable to act in response to conversations taking place on social media,” he said.
However, a screenshot of an email sent by Cr. Jeff Springfield, who takes care of the Ranges Ward, said to the recipient that her email was the “first he has heard about ongoing issues with this property”.
The email said he will follow the matter up to see what can be done and ensure that the appropriate channels are followed to enable an investigation into the farm.
The Department of Agriculture and RSPCA were both contacted for comment.
