Dear duck shooter,

Today I heard that the 2015 duck shooting season has been declared. I'm writing to you because I'm just a bit concerned about your choice of hobby. It seems really ... hard. I mean for one ... don't take this the wrong way, but surely you must've noticed that no one really likes you :/

People like ducks alive! They just don't get why you want to shoot them. (Why do you want to shoot them?)

Anyway, I was wondering whether you'd ever thought about taking up a different hobby instead of duck shooting? Like what about bowling? Everyone likes bowling. Which pretty much sums up my first point.

Why it's time to stop killing ducks and get some balls. Bowling balls.

1. You don't make friends with dead ducks.

No. No you don't.

You do however make friends with big shiny balls. The proof is in this genuinely candid and not-at-all staged photograph of bowling friends.

This could be you.

2. Bowling season never ends!

Duck shooting season is what, 3 or 4 months of the year? Maaaate ... bowling season is all year round!

This champion knows it.

3. No early starts.

Not only is bowling all year round it's ALL DAY LONG too! Some bowling alleys are even open late into the night. So forget the early morning wake ups to go out and cruelly and needlessly shoot ducks out of the sky. Sleep in, (don't be a douche) and spend your leisure time smashing pins instead.

4. Balls are provided.

Great news for anyone who doesn't have any balls of their own. (i.e. anyone who shoots a defenceless bird out of the sky for fun.)

5. No one gets hurt.

No one gets hurt at bowling. Well, unless they're super bad at it. But even then at least they're willing participants. Unlike ducks. What kind of 'sport' forces participants to 'play' against their will? And by 'play,' I mean get shot dead, or wounded until they bleed to death. Seriously, duck shooting is done. It's no good. Move on. It's time for a new, non-cruel, hobby.

Click here to leave duck shooting behind and join the other 99% of us who don't shoot ducks.

(If you're already a non duck shooter and you reckon it's rubbish that people are still allowed to shoot ducks, there's something you can do about it right now. Click here.)

There's nothing more AWESOME than sticking up for the little guy, don't you reckon? Here's 3 minutes of a whole lotta awesome:

How good was that? :)

Sadly, there's still some people who wanna shoot ducks. (Cray.) And what's worse, in some Australian states, they're allowed to!

We're calling on politicians to STICK UP FOR DUCKS and ban duck shooting! Because our wildlife should be safe, not shot.

Click here to add your voice. Thanks for being a hero for ducks :)

Number of rare 'protected' ducks who were found dead by rescuers during this year's shooting season: 456

Number of shooters who were prosecuted for illegally killing 'protected' ducks this year: 0

Duck hunting season came to an end last week (10 June) and once again I am feeling bewildered as to how this cruel "sport" is still permitted in certain states in Australia. I'm also a little confused about what the word 'protected' means. I'd have thought it meant not being killed or wounded for no reason. But over the three month shooting season in Victoria, the Coalition Against Duck Shooting pulled a total of 456 'protected' duck species out of the water, dead, with many more wounded. However, to date, not a single shooter has been prosecuted for illegally shooting a 'protected' species.

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Among the slaughtered birds rescuers found were 110 rare and threatened Freckled Ducks.

Hundreds of 'protected' eurasion coots were killed in this year's season. Coots are poor fliers. When fired at they can scarcely get away.

This Black Fronted Dotterel was struck by a shotgun pellet and died. Shotguns fire a spray of pellets, which also puts at risk non-target animals.

An estimated one in every four birds shot is left behind injured, to suffer and often die from their injuries. This black swan was one of those unfortunate birds.

Despite bans in some states, Victoria, Tasmania and SA still allow a duck shooting season.

The Coalition Against Duck Shooting have been calling on the Victorian government to take responsibility for animal cruelty caused by recreational shooting.

Rescuers found 456 'protected' birds shot in just a few locations throughout this year's duck hunting season.

Thank goodness duck hunting season is over for another year. The problem is though, that there never should have been a shooting season to begin with. Can you believe that duck hunting is still legal in some Australian states? It's 2013! When I was in primary school we had to imagine what it would be like in the year 2013. I probably said something like we will all be riding hover-boards and playing with our robots. I never would've thought that we would still be living in a society where some states say it's ok to kill animals for fun.

It's time that the governments of Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia got with the times and banned duck shooting. Western Australia banned recreational shooting way back in 1990. New South Wales followed in 1995 and Queensland in 2005. How is it that the other states have failed to realise that duck hunting is cruel and needs to be stopped?

Your voice is needed to speak up for these ducks. Take a moment to send a message to the decision makers in Victoria, SA and Tassie, calling on them to ban duck hunting.

The Chinese New Year has arrived with a bang! It's now the Year of the Snake, and next year will be Year of the Horse. But what about all the animals who don't get their own "year"? Here's three suggestions for other animals who totally deserve to have their own "year" too. See if your fave made the grade!

Cats

Somehow, cats don't already have their own year! Try explaining THAT to this cat who acts as a guide to a blind dog in Wales!

You can show some love for cats by taking the pledge to always adopt, rather than buy when you're looking to welcome a cat into your family. With tens of thousands of cats killed in Australia every year because there just aren't enough homes for them - your personal pledge is a promise to save a life.

Ducks

Next week will see duck hunting season start in South Australia. The blood will also flow in this cruel "sport" in Tasmania and Victoria starting in March. (WA, Qld and NSW - you're cool, duck hunting is banned in your states.) You can stick up for ducks in two powerful ways. Firstly, you can send a message to state pollies letting them know you're against duck hunting. And secondly, if you're in Victoria, you can join other volunteers from the Coalition Against Duck Shooting on a duck rescue team. With your help, hopefully soon we'll have a Year of the Duck, and not a Year of Duck Hunting!

Sharks

I've heard of Shark Week - but when are we going to get a Shark Year?! These majestic sea animals have been around since dinosaurs were stomping about, but now some species are at risk of total extinction. One of the major reasons for this alarming fact is the practice of shark-finning. The photo here is of 18,000 (!!) shark fins drying on a roof top in Hong Kong.

The need to do something about this has already been recognised in some countries. For example, Costa Rica has totally banned the mutilation in its waters. You can raise awareness of shark-finning amongst your buds by getting active on Facebook and Twitter. Sharks have been around for millions of years - don't let them die out on our watch!

Why not make 2013 the Year of Animals in general? Celebrate them every day by choosing not to eat them! Find out how easy it is here - and prepare to have the best year of your life!

Which animals do you think deserve their own year??

If you're looking for something to do on your school holidays, want to help animals AND win prizes ... then you'll probably want to know more about this competition being run through all of October!

To make the public more aware of the hard duck life, SA organisation POND (Protect Our Native Ducks) is running a poster competition. They're inviting students to create a poster that asks the public to take better care of Australia's native ducks. There are different age categories and prizes in each one. Get the comp details by clicking on the image.

POND brings together a range of people who all have one thing in common - a love for animals (well, ducks if you want to be really specific!) I didn't realise this until the info was jammed right under my nose, but ducks really have a LOT to worry about! Take a look at this...

1) Hunters. As someone once said, "The perils of duck hunting are great - especially for the duck." Ducks can still be shot at for fun in SA and some other states (boooo!), but it is banned in WA, NSW and Qld (yaaaay!) Ducks may be killed outright, have their necks broken by hunters after being injured, or if they get away injured, they can suffer a slow and painful death.

2) Old fishing gear. Ducks can easily become tangled up in discarded fishing line, which makes life very difficult for them. They've also been found with old fishing hooks in their bills - which makes my nose hurt just thinking about it!

3) Busy roads. Some roads are dangerous just for people to cross, let alone a mother duck with all her ducklings in tow! It's hard to believe, but some drivers don't bother slowing down when they see duck families on the road :( If anything should happen to the mum, it's not just her that suffers; her babies become orphans and will struggle to take care of themselves. The clip below is the most intense thing I've ever seen - and it has a happy ending. Phew!

With all these dangers stacked up against them, it's no wonder Daffy Duck is always in such a foul mood. Or should I say, "fowl" mood? (And that ... is why my comedy career never took off).

As they say, "you've got to be in it to win it"! Entries close Friday November 2nd, so you better get quacking! (LOL - see what I did there?)

By now you've probably heard the news: On the opening day of Victoria's despicable duck shooting season rescue team member, Julia Symons was shot in the face by a duck shooter. Instead of being able to take care of injured birds callously shot down and left for dead by hunters, Julia had her own injuries to see to.

Poor Julia was rushed to hospital to have 10 pellets removed from her face and hand. She was lucky not to be blinded, or worse! Thankfully Julia will recover; sadly most ducks aren't so fortunate. One in every four birds shot by hunters escape wounded, left to suffer and die slowly from their untended injuries. There's no ambulance for them.

When a hunter pulls the trigger on a shot gun, pellets are literally sprayed out. There is no guarantee what even the most skilled marksman will hit: a native duck, a protected waterbird, endangered species like flying foxes (or even a rescuer!) can become victims of these ducking brutes.

On another note, the boy who reportedly shot Julia was just 14 years old. At 14 you're not even allowed to drive a car, drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or vote - so why on earth should you be allowed to fire a deadly weapon? Actually, why should anyone be allowed to shoot animals for fun? Most of Australia has already banned duck hunting because it's cruelty to animals after all.

Hardly makes sense does it? Why are the Premiers of Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia getting away with blood on their hands? For Julia and the ducks, take a moment to ask the governments of these three states to ban duck shooting now!

Shout outs to all the rescue teams out on the water, including CADS, UPROAR, and the Duck Army. Good luck and stay safe guys, and we wish Julia a speedy recovery!

How would you feel if you were injured while protecting animals from cruelty?

PS Want that awesome banner? Here's the code!

Let me just get this out first—Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

That's better. Now, you would think that by 2009 something as horribly cruel as duck shooting would be banned. Some states in Australia are up with the times—NSW, WA and QLD have all banned duck shooting—however several states still remain in the dark ages and allow it to continue.

Duck shooting is a cruel excuse for a 'sport' where there is no special training required to get a duck shooting licence, and for every three birds killed, another is wounded and left to die a slow and painful death.

The Victorian government recently declared a duck hunting season for 2009 and we’re angry! We need you kind folks to call on Gavin Jennings (VIC Environment Minister) to ban duck shooting before the season commences on March 21.

Take action for ducks! And while you're at it check out our new birdy banner. Stick it on your myspace to encourage others to get active.

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