Caroline Pope, Animal Communicator

19/06/2026

New blog: “The ‘Punishment’ does NOT fit the crime!” — a hard look at the Victorian Racing Tribunal’s decision and the welfare failures behind it. Read the full piece and join the conversation: https://wix.to/BEe01YD

16/06/2026

Historic victory: Ridglan Farms, the controversial Wisconsin facility that bred beagles for experiments, is reportedly closing. After years of investigations, protests and rescues, the remaining dogs may finally get freedom and loving homes. Read more about this breakthrough and the people who made it happen: https://wix.to/DtJxOIM

Ridglan Farms, the controversial Wisconsin facility that bred beagles for laboratory experiments, is reportedly shutting down.After years of investigations, protests, rescue efforts, and public pressure, the remaining dogs may finally have the chance to experience freedom and loving homes for the fi...

13/06/2026

RSPCA Victoria is aware that the wild horse management program in Kosciuszko National Park NSW has recently started, and we acknowledge this can be distressing for some community members.

• It is essential to clarify that RSPCA does not 'approve' or 'endorse' this plan and have no legal authority to prevent it from occurring. The plan is legislated by the NSW Government.

• RSPCA Victoria and RSPCA NSW has no legal authority to prevent the cull from occurring.

• If RSPCA NSW receive or collect evidence of an alleged breach of POCTAA, they will act accordingly. Please direct any cruelty reports to RSPCA NSW, Animal Welfare League NSW or NSW Police.

RSPCA Victoria advocates that the most humane methods are used and any program is undertaken by competent operators, when control of any invasive species occurs.

Please note, posting graphic images or abuse to other commenters or our staff will not be tolerated and will result in being banned from our page.

10/06/2026

The Koala Alliance has just released it's report on the 2025 Budj Bim National Park Koala aerial shootings by the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Change (DEECA).

Events surrounding these shootings raise significant concerns about transparency, governance, and public accountability in wildlife management within Victoria.

Of particular concern is the precedent that may be set by DEECA's response. The normalisation of limited transparency and potentially inhumane or unverified wildlife management practices risks eroding established standards of animal welfare and environmental stewardship.

Due the lack of exposure from mainstream media, many Victorians are still not aware that these shootings took place, or that no evidence has been provided to justify the aerial shooting of over 1061 koalas.

This, can never happen again.

We need your help to educate the community about these shootings.

Please, download our report, share it with your friends and email it to your local MP and ask them, what are they willing to do to ensure this never happens again?

Download our report from herehttps://koalaalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/The-Budj-Bim-NP-Koala-Shootings-A-Review-of-the-2025-Aerial-Culling.pdf

09/06/2026

No seriously. This isn’t a piss-take from Kath & Kim or some forgotten Russell Coight episode.

Back in the 1890s, South Australia apparently had a real-life bushranger nicknamed the “Birdman of the Coorong” who robbed people while riding around on a bloody ostrich.

His name was John Peggotty, an Irish-born thief who stood about 1.1 metres tall and originally worked as a chimney sweep because he could squeeze into tight spaces. Which honestly already sounds like the setup for the weirdest Aussie supervillain of all time.

Things escalated when he ended up in South Africa and apparently became obsessed with ostrich racing, which was an actual sport back then. Because the 1800s were just built different.

After moving to Australia, Peggotty allegedly started robbing people across South Australia while riding his ostrich around shirtless, covered in stolen gold jewellery and waving pistols around like some deranged colonial Mad Max character.

And the wildest bit? Ostriches in South Australia were actually a real thing. Rich people imported them for the feather trade because fancy hats in Europe and America were obsessed with ostrich plumes at the time. When the industry collapsed, heaps of the birds apparently just got dumped into the bush.

So for a period in Australian history, there was genuinely a chance you could be travelling through the scrub near the Coorong and see a tiny Irish bushranger sprinting across the horizon on a giant bird wearing stolen necklaces.

Absolute peak Australia.

09/06/2026