‘The Snakeman’ deserves government support — Page
Ballina MP Don Page has ‘gone into bat’ for George The Snakeman.
Mr Page says the State Government’s failure to provide financial support for George Ellis, ‘The Snakeman’, after he has caught 5050 snakes in the past decade, is scandalous.
“Almost half of these snakes have been the deadly eastern brown snake, pictured, prevalent in this Northern Rivers region,” Mr Page said.
“The Snakeman is performing an invaluable service to our community and should get some State Government support.
“State agencies and other organisations invariably refer frightened and at-risk people encountering snakes (including the eastern brown) to ‘The Snakeman’, but he gets no Government support.
“He has to rely on private donations, which means he’s always under financial hardship. He should at the very minimum get reimbursed for his phone and fuel costs.
“On average he captures almost two snakes a day but in summer it’s much higher than that.
“The Snakeman has saved many lives and saved the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars in hospital costs, yet he gets no support from any government body for the work he does – it’s wrong.
“Of the 5050 snakes he has captured, 1705 have been indoors and 3345 outdoors. Of these, 2002 snakes have been the deadly eastern brown. The average length of the eastern browns caught by ‘The Snakeman’ over the past decade is 1.4metres.
“It’s risky work and he should be supported.”
Mr Page said ‘The Snakeman’ is called out all hours of the day and night to help people in dangerous situations, yet his contribution goes unrecognised except for a few individuals in the community who make donations.
August 31st, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Yes I agree with Don Page - it is scandalous!
Good on him for gathering support for George Ellis and making noise about this!
September 6th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
I also agree.
Not only is The Snakeman saving peoples lives but he is saving the lives of the snakes that he rescues.
I recently found out that it is a massive fine to kill native Australian snakes, but without having a service such as the Snakeman, many people are left with no other option.
As a father of two little girls, I know that I cannot afford to risk leaving an Eastern Brown in the backyard.
Great services such as this and WIRES need to be supported as much as possible.
November 19th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
I would have thought it was more a council responsibility than a State government issue.
Mr Page you seem to raise concern in the local papers about issues but how often do you raise these concerns in Parliament? How about you go to Parliament raise this issue then try and work out where you can get funding rather than whingeing all the time and doing nothing.
Does George work with any other organisation or is he independent? Maybe for cost effectiveness he needs to work with a co-operative.
December 10th, 2007 at 11:15 pm
I think george the snakeman should be hung, drawn and quartered for the way in which he treats these snakes.
Or at least showed how to do this properly
Out of the thousands of snakes he has cauhgt most of them would have died from septic injuries caused by broken ribs.
It takes weeks for a snake to die like this and i feel sorry for any animal this cowboy has touched
Please read this thread.
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55742
Barry Goldsmith
Wildlife controller and carer.
December 10th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55742
Pleas read this
December 11th, 2007 at 9:18 am
I think George the Snakeman need a few lessons on how to capture snakes without killing them.This ammature needs to be stopped by the relevant authorities & educated on the damage stomping a snake with heavy boots can do.If this was any other animal being subjected to such cruelty he would be charged with abuse.I for one am horrified.