Thousands of cattle and sheep to be PUT DOWN after suffering serious burns in catastrophic bushfires

Thousands of cattle and sheep to be PUT DOWN after suffering serious burns in catastrophic bushfires in New South Wales

  • Thousands of animals survived the bushfires but suffered serious burns  
  • Animal welfare officers are still tallying the figures of injured livestock 
  • 12,000 cattle and 6,000 sheep will likely be put down in the Upper-Murray area 
  • Locals described seeing burnt animals as they fled the fires this week 

Thousands of cattle and sheep could be put down after suffering serious burns in the latest bushfires between the New South Wales and Victorian border.

Animal welfare officers are currently combing the fire grounds of the Upper Murray which was hit hard when dry lightning sparked a fire overnight on Monday.

An estimated 12,000 cattle and 6,000 sheep survived the bushfires, but suffered burns so severe they’re due to be put down.

Thousands of livestock including cattle and sheep will be put down after suffering severe burns (pictured) from bushfires of the upper murray region, near the New South Wales and Victorian border

The blaze in the Upper Murray has now burnt through more than 111,690 thousand hectares and currently sits at a ‘watch and act’ level.

Around 12 homes have been lost in Cudgewa, west of Corryong. 

The fire caused the evacuation of the entire town of Corryong, with crews from the Victorian Country Fire Authority escorting a convoy of 68 cars out of town to safety.

Local Pia Barker spent 12 hours in the evacuation centre at Corryong School before fire authorities evacuated everyone further afield to Tallangatta.

She described seeing the destruction to the Herald Sun as she fled the town.

‘It was shocking. Houses burnt to a crisp, all the dead animals,’ she said

Pictured: Farmer Steve Shipton from Coolagolite on the far south coast was foced to shoot 20 of his cows after fires swept through the area between Cobargo and Bermagui

An estimated 12,000 cattle and 6,000 sheep survived the bushfires near Corryong, Victoria this week, but suffered burns so severe they¿re due to be put down (pictured)

Thousands of cattle are set to be killed after sustaining significant injuries in the Australian bushfires this week (pictured)  

Fires took hold of the region between New South Wales and the Victorian border earlier this week (pictured)

Fires took hold of the region between New South Wales and the Victorian border earlier this week (pictured)

Incident controller Leith McKenzie told the control centre in Tallangatta today things could get even worse heading into this weekend.

He said its possible the fires burning in New South Wales and Victoria could  ‘suck each other in’ and create one giant blaze. 

Meanwhile a farmer in Coolagolite on the far south coast has been foced to shoot 20 of his cows after fires swept through the area between Cobargo and Bermagui.

Shocking photos emerged of farmer Steve Shipton checking and then shooting about one tenth of his herd, after they were seriously injured. 

Experts say an estimated 480 million animals have perished since the fire season began in October.  

 

 

 

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk