Animal activists are praising the RSPCA's move to remove its endorsement of pet food containing kangaroo meat, but professional shooters say the issue lies elsewhere.
The RSPCA has announced it will withdraw products containing kangaroo meat from its shelves due to "concerns about animal welfare implications in the sourcing of these products".
The not-for-profit animal protection organisation said the move followed examination of its "sourcing practices, including our retail operations".
Member and former president of the Australian Wildlife Protection Council Peter Hylands said the concerns surrounding animal welfare stemmed from the killing of joeys.
"[It] completely goes against the policies of the RSPCA," he said.
"The [shooters] hold them by their hind legs and then smash down on a hard surface or they're beaten with a bar, across the head.
"It is an intensely cruel exploitation of wildlife, among the cruellest of any."
Professional shooters 'trained and tested'
Bendigo West professional kangaroo meat shooter Glen Cole told ABC Central Victoria his industry should not be labelled as cruel to animals.
"There is a larger number of non-professional people who do not do an accuracy test, who do not stick to a code of practice, shoot kangaroos under the authority of control wildlife, and that's where I believe the problem exists with the cruelty side of it," he said.
"I don't believe that we, as professional industry, have a problem with the cruelty side, we are trained and tested on our accuracy."
According to the National Code of Practice for the Shooting of Kangaroos and Wallabies for Commercial Purposes, furred joeys should be humanely dispatched with a "concussive blow".
"The concussive blow must be conducted so that the joey's head is hit against a large solid surface that will not move or compress during the impact (e.g., the tray of a utility vehicle)," the code states.
"Animals must not be hit against the utility rack or held upside down by the hindquarters or tail and hit."
However, Mr Cole said he had come across joeys and kangaroos that had been shot, injured and left to die.
He said after shooting a kangaroo, it was part of the code of practice to inspect the animal within three minutes and if it had a joey, dispatch it by decapitating the joey with "a single blade on the back of the head".
"Or as I do, anything that's got fur on it gets shot," he said.
Questions over endorsement
Mr Cole said he believed the RSPCA should not have endorsed pet food containing kangaroo meat in the first place as the organisation's policies stipulated it could not use wildlife products commercially.
Mr Hylands said the removal of endorsement would send a strong message to the state government.
"One of the issues here is that the Victorian government funds the RSPCA, quite a considerable amount, and they're funded for obviously looking after animal welfare issues in the state," he said.
"I've looked at some of the policies of the RSPCA and they're quite counter to selling kangaroo meat.
"I think the RSPCA needs to reflect on its responsibilities in terms of animal welfare."
Spokesperson for the Victorian Kangaroo Alliance Alyssa Wormald hoped the move would lead to a wider change in attitudes towards kangaroo meat.
"I'm really delighted that the RSPCA has come to this decision," she said.
"We were honestly really shocked that they were selling it in the first place because kangaroo meat contradicts several of their policies."
The RSPCA was approached for comment.
