Australian bushfire victims

[Guest guest]

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2009:

 

 

 

Chris Towie, M.D. 53, was killed by bushfire on his land

at Reedy Creek, near Broadford, Australia, on February 7, 2009.

" It is believed he was trying to save his animals, " reported the

Melbourne Herald-Sun. Partially deaf, Towie was known for

confronting bureaucracy on behalf of immigrants, the disabled, and

the disadvantaged, and for demanding that more be done to fight

methadrine addiction. Animals were also among his priorities.

" Every animal he found he took home, " Broadmeadows medical clinic

manager Cheryl Ferguson told Carol Nader of the Melbourne Age. The

animals whom Towie died defending reportedly included several camels,

emus, horses, a pony, five dogs, and many birds.

 

Marcel Smits, 56, was killed by bushfire at St. Andrews,

Australia, on February 7, 2009. " Smits was the president of the

Victoria Cat Protection Society, " recalled former Royal SPCA of

Australia president Hugh Wirth. " He was husband of Carole Webb, a

Royal SPCA Victoria board member. " Webb and their children were

safely away from the fire scene. Smits headed the Z Transport Group,

and was active in the Motorcycle Riders Association of Victoria.

 

Angela Brunton, a prominent Australian artist believed to be

in her seventies, who featured portraits of kangaroos in her last

exhibit, was killed by bushfire on February 7, 2009 with her

longtime partner Reg Evans, 80, an actor, at their farm near St.

Andrews. An heirloom cradle made by Evans in 1972, used by more

than 100 local children since, whose names are inscribed in a

registry in St. Andrews, survived the fire because the family

currently using it took it to Canberra.

 

Melanie and Penny Chambers, 22 and 21, were killed on

February 7, 2009 while trying to save horses at their mother's

property near Kingslake, Australia.

 

John Barnett, reportedly in his sixties, was killed with

his wife Jenny Barnett in their car on February 7, 2009 as they

tried to outrace a wall of fire near Steels Creek, Australia. A

University of Melbourne endocrinologist, Barnett was principal

research fellow for the Animal Welfare Science Centre on the

university campus, was a scientific advisory panelist for the World

Society for the Protection of Animals, and had for about 15 years

been active in the International Society for Applied Ethology.

Barnettt also managed the animal welfare program for the Australian

Poultry Cooperative Research Centre and chaired a Victorian

government Animal Ethics Committee for wildlife and small

institutions, recalled an ISAE memorial. Before joining the

University of Melbourne, Barnett spent 30 years with the Australian

Department of Primary Industries.

 

Jenny Barnett, reportedly in her sixties, was killed with

her husband John Barnett in their car on February 7, 2009 as they

tried to outrace a wall of fire near Steels Creek, Australia. A

field biologist, Barnett joined the Mammal Survey Group of Victoria

in the 1960s. She later worked for the Victorian Environment Centre,

the Wilderness Society, and the Victoria National Parks Association.

For the latter, Jenny Barnett extensively documented the effects on

wildlife of the Victoria bushfires of 2003--a devastating prelude to

the fires of 2009. Best known for leading campaigns on behalf of

protecting wildlife habitat, Jenny Barnett was also remembered by

longtime friend Irene Baker for " often having a pouch with a rescued

baby ringtailed possum or such-like. " In 2005 Jenny Barnett

criticized the Victoria Department of Sustainability & Environment

for issuing more than 5,000 permits to kill animals of 65 species in

only two years. She argued that the department should focus on

educating the public to learn to live with wildlife.

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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