Geraldton netball-basketball figure Leanne Fiorenza urges halt to brumby cull

Leanne Fiorenza knows there can be too many of them — but she doesn’t want the brumby wiped out. That’s why the Geraldton netball-basketball figure is urging locals to sign a petition for the Victorian Government to shelve plans to kill brumbies in Victoria’s high country. Pro-brumby groups in Victoria are seeking nationwide support to stop the planned slaughter of brumbies. It is a hot issue in Victoria, where Fiorenza was reared. “They are a (wild) horse and I used to ride horses in the area . . . plus I don’t like seeing animals killed,” the leading Geraldton sport coach and official said. “They remind me of the Man From Snowy River movie, which I loved. And to think of what the brumbies did in the two world wars. “I would like people to read what the Government plans to do to the brumbies and consider signing a petition against them proceeding.” Brumbies in the area are believed to have originated from some horses left behind when Sergeant James Brumby was transferred from Botany Bay to Van Diemen’s land in 1806. The horses couldn’t be caught — in the days before every property was fenced — and became known as Brumby’s horses, which was shortened to brumbies.