No action over bird deaths

GREYTOWN apple grower John Van Vliet has escaped official punishment for ordering the firebombing of a starling roost near Greytown that left thousands of starlings dead and dying.
Agriculture minister Jim Anderton has completed an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the destruction of the roost and has determined Mr Van Vliet cannot be prosecuted for what he did.
"It would seem Mr Van Vliet sought, and gained, all the necessary permissions under existing law," he said.
He did not clarify what permission or consents Mr Van Vliet had secured for the firebombing .
The minister hinted that although no court action would arise in this instance it is likely any repeat in the future might meet with a different response.
Mr Anderton is seeking legal advice on regulatory powers he might be able to use to restrict future bird killings such as occurred in the Greytown incident.
He expects to get that advice within the next few weeks.
Mr Van Vliet is not talking about the result of the ministerial investigations or about any of the circumstances that led to his decision to firebomb the roost, or the aftermath of his actions.
Wairarapa SPCA president Val Ball said she remains convinced Mr Van Vliet did not carry out all that was morally required of him regarding the humane destruction of the starlings.
Although the birds were blasted just over a month ago latest reports from the Moroa area where the fireball exploded show that hapless starlings were still dying there, she said.
"Just this week we were told that there are starlings from that roost still trying to stay alive.
"They are on the ground, unable to fly and suffering slow deaths."
Mrs Ball said there was a more pressing aspect to the incident than just whether Mr Van Vliet had any legal right to bomb the roost.
"It is a moral issue.
"These birds have been left in a state where they are unable to live a normal existence."
Despite Mr Van Vliet's pleas that damage caused by the starlings was costing him money Mrs Ball said it was odd he was the only orchardist in Wairarapa that seemed to have a need to cause their mass destruction.
"Why is it that he has major problems that other growers seem to be able to overcome in more humane ways?"
Although the apple grower is not discussing future plans for bird control the SPCA understands he has invested in the bulk buying of netting, presumably to be used for covering apple crops.
Mrs Ball said netting "works to some extent" although some birds get tangled in it.
Mr Van Vliet's orchard is in a rural part of Greytown, being in Pah Road, Papawai.
For this reason it was probable he would achieve better bird control by resorting to bird scaring devices.
The use of the scarers has caused problems between neighbours in grape growing areas around Martinborough but the Papawai orchard's location is in a far less densely populated area.
"Anything has to be better than allowing thousands of birds to suffer like those at Moroa did, and are," Mrs Ball said.
Greytown businesswomen and conservationist Narena Olliver said animal cruelty laws forbid the destruction of pests in an inhumane way.
She said she felt strongly that Mr Van Vliet should have faced prosecution and that even the industry body governing apple growers, Pipfruit NZ, seemed to disassociate itself from the methods used by Mr Van Vliet.
Ms Olliver said New Zealanders had to take stock of how they treated animals and birds.
"We have got to stop killing everything that moves."
News of the manner in which Mr Van Vliet destroyed the birds reverberated around the world and resulted in letters of complaint, suggesting the firebombing had tarnished the country's clean, green image and could backfire by collapsing export markets for New Zealand fruit.