Animal sanctuary death sparks vicious row among vegans

Kerrie Carroll was the animal lover who co-founded Lucky Stars Animal Sanctuary at Bywong, just north of Canberra.

The sanctuary sits on a dusty rise in the bush. It is home to about 200 animals. Young kangaroos who survived their mothers being hit by cars are there.

Roosters and alpacas roam the open area between fenced animal pens and a central accommodation block.

At one end, joeys (named Winnie, the Roo and Boo) hop behind fencing. Fifty metres away, two very large pigs wallow, up to their snouts in mud.

There are also pigeons, sheep, geese, cats, dogs and a single bearded dragon.

But the sanctuary has been the scene of human tumult and tragedy.

Ms Carroll published her final public words on Facebook on October 19, timed to appear just after her death.

But its attack on other vegans has left a sour taste in many mouths.

She said they had driven her to the final desperate act. "Your little evil group will face the consequences of their actions one day," she wrote and posted to be read posthumously.

"Broken," she wrote. "My heart is finally broken into a thousand pieces."

She accused members of the Vegan ACT group of "cyber bullying".

But her bitter words have provoked a backlash.

Those she publicly attacked have told The Canberra Times that it is the reverse of the truth.

She, they say, was the one who had bullied them away from the animal sanctuary.

In her final Facebook posting, she praised her partner there, Clint Seares, who is running the place after her death.

"To Clint, you were truly the love of my life. You filled my heart," she wrote. "I hope you feel my love and support always. You protected me from evil and had my back always."

Suicides - and the police say the death is "self-harm related" - are normally intensely private matters. They are tragedies in anybody's book, as this one is. Motivations are often complex and unfathomable.

But Kerrie Carroll's death and her very public accusatory note has uncovered fights and screaming between animal-loving humans.

At one stage, three people fought over how to treat an asthmatic cat.

There was a lot of shoving and shouting. One person ended up on the floor. The fight was filmed on a phone. The police became involved.

Former volunteers at the sanctuary have told The Canberra Times that there was a toxic atmosphere under Kerrie Carroll's stewardship.

The unpaid helpers said they stayed only out of concern for the animals until they were finally driven out.

"She would scream at you and yell at you," one former volunteer said.

"She was my best friend and now I call her a 'bitch'," one person said.

"The whole place turned toxic," said another person with direct knowledge of it.

"We were chewed up and spat out," said another.

"I saw her screaming at a volunteer, humiliating her," another of the volunteers told The Canberra Times.

Clint Seares doesn't deny that some volunteers were in effect sacked - but he says it's because they weren't "the right fit".

In one very public posted video, he blamed them for the death of "Kerrie's dog Bennie. And it happened because of negligence caused by some volunteers".

Since the death, he has posted several videos of himself on Facebook appealing for money for the sanctuary "in Memory of Kerrie".

He said the place needs $4000 a month to pay for food for the animals.

When she published her suicide note on the sanctuary's Facebook page, there was an outpouring of concern. Some people far away called ambulances. Some wanted to send flowers.

Before she finally died, Clint Seares posted an update: "Your thoughts and prayers are gratefully appreciated.

"Please don't by (sic) flowers. While we appreciate the offer, money would better sent on animal food and vet bills."

In one of Mr Seares' videos on the Sanctuary's Facebook page, he laid into Vegan ACT: "And they call themselves vegan. I don't think that their actions are in line with the vegan message. My version, or my definition of being vegan, is that I have empathy and compassion for everyone."

The Vegan ACT Facebook group has about 500 participants. The former volunteers at the sanctuary say that their discontent should not reflect on the whole group - it's just where they happen to share their views.

They are not taking Clint Seares' allegations lying down. "Bullied" and "manipulated" are words which they use.

Some say they are still traumatised by the way they were treated in what was a hyper-emotional atmosphere under Kerrie Carroll's leadership ("totally toxic", one former volunteer said.)

"I was yelled at on a number of occasions. I should have just walked away but I didn't," one said. "There were heaps of people who were told to leave on trumped up things.

"Sometimes you just tip-toed around her because you knew she was in a bad mood."

From the other side of this vicious row, Clint Seares in a Facebook video urged people to calm down - implying he feared violence.

"Don't turn up at their address. I don't want you to do anything. You know, this is not for us."

The next stage of this row may be legal action.

There are two parts to the Lucky Stars Animal Sanctuary. It is a charity which sits on land which was only half owned by Kerrie, according to Mr Seares.

The other half of the land is owned by Kerrie's previous partner, named by Kerrie in her suicide note as Yee-Ching Cheam. The Canberra Times approached Ms Cheam but she declined to comment.

But it is clear that there is no love lost between her and Mr Seares.

One question is now: to whom does Kerrie's half of the land go?

It is not clear if she made a will. And if she did, would that will be superseded by a sentence in her suicide note addressed to Clint ("truly the love of my life")?

That short but possibly important sentence reads: "I leave you everything to help ease the pain."

There is a lot of pain still to come. The animal lovers have not finished their online hostilities.

The only creatures who know nothing about it are those at the centre: the goats, kangaroos, pigs, alpacas, pigeons, sheep, geese, roosters, cats, dogs and a single bearded dragon.

And Kerrie Carroll.