[MCN] Australia veterinarian : Bulls becoming infertile from testicles overheating, and through the heat, piglets and calves are aborting.

[Lance Olsen]

Sydney Morning Herald  December 26, 2019
ENVIRONMENT <https://www.smh.com.au/environment>CLIMATE CHANGE <https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change>GLOBAL WARMING <https://www.smh.com.au/topic/global-warming-5xu>
OPINION
Cattle have stopped breeding, koalas die of thirst: A vet's hellish diary of climate change
By Gundi Rhoades
Gundi Rhoades is a member of Veterinarians for Climate Action based in Inverell.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/cattle-have-stopped-breeding-koalas-die-of-thirst-a-vet-s-hellish-diary-of-climate-change-20191220-p53m03.html <https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/cattle-have-stopped-breeding-koalas-die-of-thirst-a-vet-s-hellish-diary-of-climate-change-20191220-p53m03.html>

EXCERPTS

Bulls cannot breed at Inverell. They are becoming infertile from their testicles overheating. Mares are not falling pregnant, and through the heat, piglets and calves are aborting.

I once assisted farmers who have spent their lives developing breeding programs, with historic bloodlines that go back 80 years. These stud farmers are now left with a handful of breeders that they can’t bear to part with, spending thousands keeping them fed, and going broke doing it.

Cattle that sold for thousands are now in the sale yards at $70 a head. Those classed as too skinny for sale are costing the farmer $130 to be destroyed.

The impact of the drought on wildlife is devastating to watch, too. Members of the public are bringing us koalas, sugar gliders, possums, galahs, cockatoos and kangaroos on a daily basis.

The koalas affect me the most. To see these gorgeous, iconic animals dying from thirst is too hard to bear. We save some, but we lose just as many.

The whole town is devastated. My business has halved. But with no horses to breed, no cattle to test and care for, what am I going to do? I have worked day and night to build a future for my family, but who would want to buy our property out here? Who would want to buy a vet clinic in a town where there are no animals to treat because it’s too hot and dry? Where the cattle become infertile from the 40-degree heat. All this on black, baked ground.

I am 53 years old. Can I start again?

Climate change for us is every day, and I am not suffering on the same level as my friends, my clients and the helpless animals I treat. As a veterinarian I am becoming more and more distressed, not just about the state of my town, but the whole world.

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“We are living on the surface of this planet … and with its climate and atmosphere. 
It has always been the task of mankind to find the right answer to the problem 
these conditions set us, and even today we cannot think that we have found a 
sufficient answer.” 
p. 131

The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler
by Heinz L. and Rowena R. Ansbacher, eds.
1956. Basic Books

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