A Queensland man is seeking compensation from the state’s Department of Environment after he shot two of his prized pet crocodiles and dumped their bloodied carcasses on the doorstep of a government building.
For years, saltwater crocodiles “Big Boy” and “Little Girl,” owned by Innisfail Landcare contractor Adrian Hogg, were kept in a cage in his backyard.
But because of reforms to permits in 2020, he was unable to extend his 2018 permit when it ran out in 2021.
The Department of Environment and Science issued Mr. Hogg a “cruel” ultimatum: either find homes for the saltwater fish or have a veterinarian put them to death.
In retaliation, Mr. Hogg drove both of his crocodiles to the department’s door and shot them both in the head. As he discarded the corpses, he sobbed that he hoped the officials of the department were content with themselves.
To cover the costs of keeping the crocodiles under the original permit terms, he is now asking the government for $100,000 in compensation.
After the department informed Mr. Hogg that they needed proof of the crocodiles’ demise if he wanted to have them put down, Mr. Hogg took the dramatic step of shooting his pets.
Shooting his pets was “terrible, absolutely horrible,” Mr. Hogg said, adding that he was devastated to have to do so.
Keeping his pets and adhering to the department’s guidelines, he claimed, had cost him over $50,000 over the years. He claimed to have been fighting with the department for years.
He spent $30,000 on the animal enclosure.
Since I was legally allowed to keep them for five years, they have been pestering me, Mr. Hogg claimed.
“I obeyed every single law, even though it cost a lot of money to create a pen, and the permit required that I achieve those criteria,” the applicant claimed.
He asserts that the government is also attempting to damage his reputation in addition to the costly compliance regime.
He earlier told Daily Mail Australia, “They are just trying to spin it, that I’m the evil one.”
They dislike having their demands for the euthanasia of healthy captive native animals under protection in the media.
They must protect wildlife, not command its eradication, as is their duty.
Mr. Hogg claimed to have spent $30,000 building a “escape proof” enclosure for the saltwater crocodiles at his residence, which included a lagoon stocked with fish, after purchasing them for $700 in the Northern Territory.
In order to recover the thousands of dollars he spent on constructing an enclosure that complied with the department’s requirements while his permit permitted him to lawfully keep the crocodiles, he claims he needs financial compensation from the agency.
Mr. Hogg is asking the Department of Environment and Science for about $100,000, which he claimed “would do it.”
He asked, “How is that good for faith in the government if they can make you spend money, change the laws, and leave you high and dry?” to the Cairns Post.
According to a spokesman, the department advised Mr. Hogg to have the crocodiles humanely put to death rather than to shoot them.
The situation, it was stated, was now being looked into.