Shocking new evidence of
LIVE EXPORT CRUELTY
Every year millions of sheep and cattle leave Australian shores destined for slaughter in countries where there are no laws to protect them from cruelty. Tens of thousands will die on stressful journeys across the high seas -- and for those who survive, their ordeal is just beginning.
Over the past 30 years Australia’s live export industry has exported over 150 million animals to the Middle East – to countries where there are no laws to protect them from acts of cruelty. During this time, some 2.5 million have died enroute. Animals Australia’s seven investigations in the Middle East since 2003 have revealed that these animals may well have been the fortunate ones. They have also revealed Australia’s live export industry’s culpability in the cruel treatment of all animals in the region. Millions of local people throughout the region believe that Australians approve of their treatment of animals due to their willingness to supply them.
Animals Australia's investigations over the past decade have revealed animals in importing countries being handled, transported and slaughtered in the most appalling ways. Most will have their throats cut while fully conscious -- experiencing a painful and prolonged death.
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September 4, 2012
Thousands of Australian sheep which were stranded on a live export ship off Kuwait have now been unloaded, but thousands more are still stuck on another ship after a disease outbreak.
Two Australian sheep shipments were stopped from unloading in Kuwait and Bahrain because of outbreaks of scabby mouth disease.
A spokeswoman for the Australian Livestock Exporters Council says all the sheep which had been destined for Kuwait have now been unloaded and are in a feedlot.
The ship Al Shuwaikh, run by Australian company Emanuel Exports and with a carrying capacity of 50,000, was due to dock a week ago.
Meanwhile, the spokeswoman says negotiations are continuing to get 22,000 sheep and some chilled carcasses off the Australian ship Ocean Drover, moored off Bahrain.
That ship is operated by Wellard Exports, based in Fremantle.
The Department of Agriculture said both shipments were infected with scabby mouth disease.
Wellard has released a statement saying it cannot understand why its shipment has been rejected and that it is working hard to resolve the issue.
"The sheep on board the vessel were prepared by Wellard and inspected and certified for export by the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service in accordance with health conditions agreed between the Australian and Bahrain government(s)," the statement said.
"The sheep have also inspected in-port by an independent veterinarian approved by the Bahrain government who confirmed the sheep's animal health status.
"Sheep from the same consignment were successfully discharged in two other markets without incident before the vessel arrived in Bahrain.
"Wellard is now working through the current issue with its importer, Bahraini Livestock Company, which is the legal owner of the cargo, the Bahrain government and the Australian Government.
"Animal welfare will remain the prime focus of those discussions."
Wellard said the Ocean Drover had already discharged most of its cargo, so the sheep had plenty of space and had been provided with fresh food and water.
Last night, Lateline revealed the Ocean Drover was blocked from unloading in Bahrain about 10 days ago.
The sheep had already been on the water for 33 days.
Welfare concerns
A memorandum of understanding put in place after the Cormo Express disaster of 2003, when 6,000 sheep died, is meant to protect animals involved in the live export trade.
But the new cases suggest procedures for animal welfare in the live export trade have failed.
Greens senator Lee Rhiannon says the situation is unacceptable.
"The memorandum of understanding now looks like worthless bits of paper," she said.
"What they require is for the sheep to be unloaded within 36 hours of docking.
"Even if they're sick, they're supposed to be put into quarantine feedlots."
RSPCA chief executive Heather Neil says the incident shows the inherent danger of the live animal trade.
"Every one of these sheep are suffering stress; they're in 40-plus-degree temperatures," she said.
"But what this does show is that any time the doors to a market can close, which is really why we need to move away from the live export trade and really be looking at a meat-only trade."
Federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig has been unavailable for comment.
Read the full article...
Over 30,000 baby cows
stranded in Egypt face death
September 1, 2012
CAIRO: An estimated 32,000 baby cows are currently stranded at an Egyptian port after arriving on their long journey from Australia. The ministry of agriculture and the Veterinary Public Quarantine have said they have been at the Ain Sokhna port for 6 weeks after they arrived from Australia.
The ministry argued that they are under quarantine after fears they were given cancerous treatments before being loaded onto a vessel that took them from Australia to Egypt, where they are to be slaughtered.
The ministry has said it has yet to determine the fate of the animals and they have remained on board the ships in what animal rights groups have told Bikyamasr.com are “horrendous and inhumane” conditions.
Live export from Australia to the Islamic world is a controversial practice that sees thousands of animals crammed into small crates and transported by sea to their destination to be slaughtered for food.
According to the ministry, tests are continuing to learn more about the potential carcinogen that had been given to the animals before they would be unloaded. Tests have reportedly been ongoing for the past month at a private lab in Egypt, but no results have been conclusive.
According to a al-Shorouk newspaper report, the animals are likely to remain in their confinement for a number of weeks more in order for further tests to take place.
Earlier this year, some 3,000 cattle died on a ship destined for Egypt after the Egyptian government refused to allow the ship to dock at a Red Sea port.
Animals Australia, the leading organization reporting on the controversial live export trade to the Middle East and Southeast Asia, said the incident was among the worst the industry had witnessed in years.
Animals Australia’s Campaign Director, Lyn White, said in a statement to Bikyamasr.com that the ship was anchored at sea after being refused port in a number of countries, including Egypt, where the cattle were supposed to be offloaded.
It’s understood that ventilation problems on the converted livestock vessel, the MV Gracia Del Mar, had caused the deaths of more than half of the animals on board since the ship left South America for Egypt a few weeks ago. The ship was anchored in the Red Sea for weeks and saw more animals perish as a result.
“This is nothing short of an animal welfare disaster. If remaining cattle are not offloaded more of these animals will suffer appalling deaths at sea. We are appealing to authorities in Egypt to offload the remaining cattle at al-Sohkna, as was originally intended.
“This disaster is just another example of the inherent risks of transporting animals by sea. It was only nine years ago that 5,000 Australian sheep perished on board the MV Cormo Express after country after country refused to allow it to berth.
“And this isn’t the first time that mechanical issues have caused mass deaths on live export ships. We only need to look to the breakdown of the Al Messilah in Adelaide last year. Had that vessel broken down on the open ocean it would have caused a similar welfare catastrophe — as thousands of animals would have died.
“Australia also exports cattle to Al Sohkna Livestock company in Egypt. Whilst we have an MoU with Egypt which should ensure the offloading of our animals, it has never been put to the test. The Egyptians thus far have flatly refused to allow the MV Gracia Del Mar to dock despite the mass suffering of the animals on board.
“If they continue to refuse to allow the surviving animals to be unloaded it would provide little confidence that the non-binding agreement with Australia would be honoured if a similar incident were to occur on an Australian livestock ship.
“It should not matter if these cattle aren’t Australian and if Brazil doesn’t have a similar piece of paper, they should not be abandoned to suffer and die at sea. We are appealing to Egyptian authorities to offload these cattle as a matter of urgency.”
Australia’s live sheep exports have fallen significantly over the past decade.
In 2010, three million sheep were exported compared with 6.3 million in 2001.
Australia’s government last year was to see a bill that would have banned live export to the world, but industry lobbyists fought back and forced the legislation off the table in a move that angered animal activists in the country and across the world, notably the Islamic world, which receives the lion’s share of live cattle and sheep from both Australia and Brazil.
Source: Bikyamasr
Egypt slaughters over 30,000 baby cows
stranded at port
September 6, 2012
CAIRO: Egypt’s ministry of agriculture reported on Thursday that they had slaughtered over 30,000 baby cows who had been stranded for weeks at a Red Sea port. The ministry said that it had discovered what it described as “hormonal capsules” in the animals, local newspapers reported.
The stranded cows had made international headlines after Bikyamasr.com first reported their situation on September 1, including a Care2.com petition that was signed by over 25,000 people globally urging the Egyptian government to free the baby cows from their horrific conditions.
The ministry chose to slaughter the animals instead.
The baby cows had remained on board the ships for over 6 weeks at Port Sokhna in what animal rights groups told Bikyamasr.com are “horrendous and inhumane” conditions.
It is yet another incident that revealed the horrors of the live export trade.
Background on Live Export
Live export from Brazil and Australia to the Islamic world is a controversial practice that sees thousands of animals crammed into small crates and transported by sea to their destination to be slaughtered for food.
According to the ministry, tests had been conducted to learn more about the potential carcinogen that had been given to the animals before they would be unloaded. Tests had reportedly been ongoing for the past month at a private lab in Egypt, but no results had been conclusive.
According to a al-Shorouk newspaper report, the animals are likely to remain in their confinement for a number of weeks more in order for further tests to take place.
Earlier this year, some 3,000 of the cows died on a ship destined for Egypt after the Egyptian government refused to allow the ship to dock at a Red Sea port.
They were slaughtered as a “precaution,” the ministry said, outraging a number of Egyptians.
Animals Australia, the leading organization reporting on the controversial live export trade to the Middle East and Southeast Asia, said the incident was among the worst the industry had witnessed in years.
Animals Australia’s Campaign Director, Lyn White, said in a statement to Bikyamasr.com that the ship was anchored at sea after being refused port in a number of countries, including Egypt, where the cattle were supposed to be offloaded.
It’s understood that ventilation problems on the converted livestock vessel, the MV Gracia Del Mar, had caused the deaths of more than half of the animals on board since the ship left South America for Egypt a few weeks ago. The ship was anchored in the Red Sea for weeks and saw more animals perish as a result.
“This is nothing short of an animal welfare disaster. If remaining cattle are not offloaded more of these animals will suffer appalling deaths at sea. We are appealing to authorities in Egypt to offload the remaining cattle at al-Sohkna, as was originally intended.
“This disaster is just another example of the inherent risks of transporting animals by sea. It was only nine years ago that 5,000 Australian sheep perished on board the MV Cormo Express after country after country refused to allow it to berth.
“And this isn’t the first time that mechanical issues have caused mass deaths on live export ships. We only need to look to the breakdown of the Al Messilah in Adelaide last year. Had that vessel broken down on the open ocean it would have caused a similar welfare catastrophe — as thousands of animals would have died.
“Australia also exports cattle to Al Sohkna Livestock company in Egypt. Whilst we have an MoU with Egypt which should ensure the offloading of our animals, it has never been put to the test. The Egyptians thus far have flatly refused to allow the MV Gracia Del Mar to dock despite the mass suffering of the animals on board.
“If they continue to refuse to allow the surviving animals to be unloaded it would provide little confidence that the non-binding agreement with Australia would be honoured if a similar incident were to occur on an Australian livestock ship.
“It should not matter if these cattle aren’t Australian and if Brazil doesn’t have a similar piece of paper, they should not be abandoned to suffer and die at sea. We are appealing to Egyptian authorities to offload these cattle as a matter of urgency.”
Australia’s live sheep exports have fallen significantly over the past decade.
In 2010, three million sheep were exported compared with 6.3 million in 2001.
Australia’s government last year was to see a bill that would have banned live export to the world, but industry lobbyists fought back and forced the legislation off the table in a move that angered animal activists in the country and across the world, notably the Islamic world, which receives the lion’s share of live cattle and sheep from both Australia and Brazil.
Source: Bikyamasr
Exported animals...
Millions of animals are sent from Australian shores on crowded ships to endure terrifying handling and brutal slaughter in areas as the Middle East (who have no animal protection laws).
Independent Animals Australia investigations since 2003 have gathered evidence of gross mishandling, suffering, distress and terrible cruelty prior to slaughter (whilst fully conscious) in the major importing countries.
Independent Animals Australia investigations since 2003 have gathered evidence of gross mishandling, suffering, distress and terrible cruelty prior to slaughter (whilst fully conscious) in the major importing countries.
Home slaughter of sheep in Kuwait toilet
The routine slaughter method in the majority of importing countries is cutting of throat without pre-stunning. Animals killed in this way can endure prolonged, painful, fearful deaths.
Such slaughter is, quite rightly, illegal in Australia.
Such slaughter is, quite rightly, illegal in Australia.
Egypt street slaughter – Eid Al Adha
This photo is the outcome of an Eid Al Adha street slaughter, and the appalling final minutes of this terrified young bull were documented. The treatment this animal received was one of the worst abuses of an animal investigators had documented.
The bull was transported on a ute with its front legs tied together with rope. With no unloading ramp the bull was forced backwards from the ute falling on its side on the road. The terrorized animal then struggled against the slaughtermen trying to pull it to the slaughter area (outside the shopping centre). When the animal wouldn’t comply, one slaughterman slashed the rear left leg tendon of the bull. slaughtermen then dragged the crippled bull with front legs tied and rear leg tendon slashed to a footpath continually twisting and bending its tail using the pain as leverage to get the animal to move.
In front of a crowd of onlookers this poor animal which by this time had collapsed on the ground, was held down by four men whilst its head was twisted for the throat cut.
The bull was transported on a ute with its front legs tied together with rope. With no unloading ramp the bull was forced backwards from the ute falling on its side on the road. The terrorized animal then struggled against the slaughtermen trying to pull it to the slaughter area (outside the shopping centre). When the animal wouldn’t comply, one slaughterman slashed the rear left leg tendon of the bull. slaughtermen then dragged the crippled bull with front legs tied and rear leg tendon slashed to a footpath continually twisting and bending its tail using the pain as leverage to get the animal to move.
In front of a crowd of onlookers this poor animal which by this time had collapsed on the ground, was held down by four men whilst its head was twisted for the throat cut.
Click here to get re-directed to the website of Animals Australia for more photos
Animals Australia has exposed that a notorious livestock market
in Kuwait is still selling Australian sheep
in breach of the new live export regulations
September 6, 2012
In a formal complaint to the Department of Agriculture, Animals Australia has provided evidence of Australian sheep being sold openly by four merchants at the notorious Al Rai market in Kuwait City.
In November 2010, Al Rai was the scene of some of the most shocking animal cruelty documented by our investigators. After Animals Australia exposed the horrendous slaughter of Australian cattle in Indonesia, new live export regulations were imposed. Under these new regulations, exported Australian animals have to be handled and slaughtered within approved supply chains in importing countries that meet basic animal welfare standards.
The terrible treatment that Animals Australia documented in Al Rai Market was a compelling factor in the Gillard government implementing regulations that cover all importing nations. These regulations prohibit the on selling of animals to individual buyers so animals are not transported in boots, or horrendously slaughtered in private premises – and place the responsibility for ensuring that animals remain within approved supply chains on the exporter. That hundreds of Australian sheep have continued to be offered for sale at Al Rai market reveals the exporter's complete disregard for their regulatory responsibilities to protect animals from such inhumane treatment.
The local investigator witnessed at least 200 Australian animals being sold openly at the market, including an Australian sheep being dragged across a cement slaughter floor and laid on top of dead sheep. The slaughterman then used a short knife to saw at the conscious animal's throat.
Evidence is mounting that Australian government regulations cannot protect animals from extreme suffering in the live export trade. In the last three weeks, two importing countries in the Middle East have disregarded their obligations to unload Australian animals, and now Australian sheep are being openly sold at a notoriously cruel livestock market, in breach of regulations.
The government's attempts to protect the welfare of Australian livestock are dependent on importers and exporters playing by the rules. They clearly cannot be trusted to do so. If exporters continue to ignore their regulatory obligations, the Gillard government should do what the vast majority of Australians have been long calling on governments to do – and that is end the live export trade.
Animals Australia is calling on the government to impose the strongest possible penalty on the exporters, to send a clear message to others that failing to meet their legal obligations will not be tolerated.
While live exports continue, animals will continue to suffer –- at sea and on foreign shores. You can speak up for these animals and lobby to prevent further cruelty by urging your local MP to push for a ban on live exports.
via Animals Australia
Sheepmeat Council calls for review of new animal welfare system
September 3, 2012
The Sheepmeat Council of Australia says the ESCAS animal welfare system is overly bureaucratic and should be reviewed.
The system was introduced to ensure animal welfare after the images of Australian cattle being abused in Indonesian abattoirs were shown on ABC-TV's Four Corners last year.
From this week, 99 per cent of Australia's export markets must comply with it.
The council's chief executive, Ron Cullen, says animal welfare is the top priority and oversight is important to ensure that happens.
But he says the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System is overly bureaucratic.
"Some of the checks and balances that have been put in there are checking and checking the balances of the balances rather than ensuring the welfare of animals," he said.
"People who've had a lot of experience in those marketplaces are saying 'I dont think this check is contributing to animal welfare, it's just another bit of paper that I have to tick off'.
"It would be good if we could say, 'is it possible for us to streamline this process?'."
Source: abc.net.au
Over 10,000 sheep have been brutally culled
in Pakistan
Clubbed, stabbed and buried alive
M. Waqar Bhatti - Thursday, September 27, 2012 - The News, Pakistan
Karachi - Like a giant mass of wool, bloodied and filthy, they lay in trenches – slit open, stabbed or clubbed to death, while many still wriggled with some life left in them, soon to be buried alive.
This was the horrific and brutal fate that the Australian sheep, which provincial authorities had claimed were diseased, met after their culling was ordered.
Of the 20,468 imported sheep, 7,667 were culled until the Sindh High Court issued a stay order.
A video footage of the mass execution, obtained by The News, reveals that the sheep were disposed of in a shockingly brutal and unethical manner. Many of them were still alive when they were thrown into trenches dug at the importer’s farmhouse in Razzaqabad.
The video shows the executioners slitting the animals’ throats or callously stabbing or clubbing them.
The people killing the animals or throwing them into the trenches were not wearing any protective gear whatsoever, even though the animals were being culled on the basis that they were suffering from a “contagious disease”.
The PK Livestock and Meat Company, which imported the sheep, has a modern abattoir at one of its farm houses, where hundreds of animals can be slaughtered in a proper manner.
However, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) staff never bothered to use that facility and instead used gruesome and inhumane methods to get rid of the sheep.
“I have watched the video and let me tell you that ever since I have seen those gruesome visuals, I haven’t eaten or slept. Regardless of whether they were healthy or not, the way they were killed or buried alive is neither humane, nor Islamic,” Stephen Meerwald, the managing director of the Wellard Rural Exports, the firm that exported the sheep, told The News.
“The federal government had directed the Sindh government to dispose of the sheep in a ‘merciful and Islamic manner’, but that was not how it got rid of them.”
Untrained butchers
The butchers hired by the KMC were not trained and they used all sorts of unethical and unprofessional ways to kill the sheep.
“Instead of hiring professional butchers to carry out the job of slaughtering the animals, untrained people including sanitary workers were used to do the job,” a KMC source told The News.
The video discloses that several half-alive sheep were taken out of the trenches the next morning. They were slaughtered or clubbed with heavy wooden sticks and thrown back into the trenches again.
In one of the more disturbing parts of the video, the executioners can be seen kicking some sheep into the trenches and using any sharp object they can find to stab them.
Apparently, there was no counting of sheep taking place when they were being executed.
‘Environmental hazard’
The trenches were dug in the middle of the importer’s farm house without taking into consideration the environmental hazards posed to the workers and other animals there.
The source said after realising their mistake, the KMC employees had dug up the carcasses and buried them again in trenches off the National Highway.
The importer of the sheep was of the view that if the civil society and animal rights activists even had a hint of what the KMC staff had done to the animals in the name of “safe culling”, there could be serious problems for the country’s livestock industry.
Threat to trade
An expert told The News that the barbaric killing of the sheep, irrespective of their health status, can have serious repercussions.
“I can bet on one thing that if the Australians find out how the sheep were killed - the stabbing, the clubbing and the burying alive - they will definitely ban animal exports to Pakistan,” he noted.
Islamic point of view
Terming the infliction of pain on animals as “un-Islamic”, a renowned Islamic scholar says Muslims have been directed to give food and water to animals prior to slaughtering. They should be slaughtered using extremely sharp knives to minimise the pain. In addition, they should not be slaughtered in front of other animals.
“Islam prohibits inflicting pain on animals. Burying them alive, beating them to death and inflicting pain on them is an offence in Islam and Allah Almighty prohibits meting out such cruel treatment to animals,” Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman told The News.
Laws against animal cruelty
The Pakistan Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1890 clearly states,
“If any person overdrives, beats, or otherwise treats any animal so as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering, he shall be punished, in the case of a first offence, with fine which may extend to fifty rupees, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month and, in the case of second or subsequent offence committed within three years of the previous offence, with fine which may extend to one hundred rupees, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with both.”
A portion of the Act titled, “Penalty for killing animals with unnecessary cruelty anywhere”, states, “If any person kills any animal in an unnecessarily cruel manner, he shall be punished with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with both.”
Karachi - Like a giant mass of wool, bloodied and filthy, they lay in trenches – slit open, stabbed or clubbed to death, while many still wriggled with some life left in them, soon to be buried alive.
This was the horrific and brutal fate that the Australian sheep, which provincial authorities had claimed were diseased, met after their culling was ordered.
Of the 20,468 imported sheep, 7,667 were culled until the Sindh High Court issued a stay order.
A video footage of the mass execution, obtained by The News, reveals that the sheep were disposed of in a shockingly brutal and unethical manner. Many of them were still alive when they were thrown into trenches dug at the importer’s farmhouse in Razzaqabad.
The video shows the executioners slitting the animals’ throats or callously stabbing or clubbing them.
The people killing the animals or throwing them into the trenches were not wearing any protective gear whatsoever, even though the animals were being culled on the basis that they were suffering from a “contagious disease”.
The PK Livestock and Meat Company, which imported the sheep, has a modern abattoir at one of its farm houses, where hundreds of animals can be slaughtered in a proper manner.
However, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) staff never bothered to use that facility and instead used gruesome and inhumane methods to get rid of the sheep.
“I have watched the video and let me tell you that ever since I have seen those gruesome visuals, I haven’t eaten or slept. Regardless of whether they were healthy or not, the way they were killed or buried alive is neither humane, nor Islamic,” Stephen Meerwald, the managing director of the Wellard Rural Exports, the firm that exported the sheep, told The News.
“The federal government had directed the Sindh government to dispose of the sheep in a ‘merciful and Islamic manner’, but that was not how it got rid of them.”
Untrained butchers
The butchers hired by the KMC were not trained and they used all sorts of unethical and unprofessional ways to kill the sheep.
“Instead of hiring professional butchers to carry out the job of slaughtering the animals, untrained people including sanitary workers were used to do the job,” a KMC source told The News.
The video discloses that several half-alive sheep were taken out of the trenches the next morning. They were slaughtered or clubbed with heavy wooden sticks and thrown back into the trenches again.
In one of the more disturbing parts of the video, the executioners can be seen kicking some sheep into the trenches and using any sharp object they can find to stab them.
Apparently, there was no counting of sheep taking place when they were being executed.
‘Environmental hazard’
The trenches were dug in the middle of the importer’s farm house without taking into consideration the environmental hazards posed to the workers and other animals there.
The source said after realising their mistake, the KMC employees had dug up the carcasses and buried them again in trenches off the National Highway.
The importer of the sheep was of the view that if the civil society and animal rights activists even had a hint of what the KMC staff had done to the animals in the name of “safe culling”, there could be serious problems for the country’s livestock industry.
Threat to trade
An expert told The News that the barbaric killing of the sheep, irrespective of their health status, can have serious repercussions.
“I can bet on one thing that if the Australians find out how the sheep were killed - the stabbing, the clubbing and the burying alive - they will definitely ban animal exports to Pakistan,” he noted.
Islamic point of view
Terming the infliction of pain on animals as “un-Islamic”, a renowned Islamic scholar says Muslims have been directed to give food and water to animals prior to slaughtering. They should be slaughtered using extremely sharp knives to minimise the pain. In addition, they should not be slaughtered in front of other animals.
“Islam prohibits inflicting pain on animals. Burying them alive, beating them to death and inflicting pain on them is an offence in Islam and Allah Almighty prohibits meting out such cruel treatment to animals,” Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman told The News.
Laws against animal cruelty
The Pakistan Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1890 clearly states,
“If any person overdrives, beats, or otherwise treats any animal so as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering, he shall be punished, in the case of a first offence, with fine which may extend to fifty rupees, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month and, in the case of second or subsequent offence committed within three years of the previous offence, with fine which may extend to one hundred rupees, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with both.”
A portion of the Act titled, “Penalty for killing animals with unnecessary cruelty anywhere”, states, “If any person kills any animal in an unnecessarily cruel manner, he shall be punished with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with both.”
Local media reports have revealed that over 10,000 Australian sheep have been brutally culled in Pakistan.
This situation is absolutely unequivocally unacceptable. Australian sheep are being clubbed, stabbed and buried alive whilst the Australian government stands by, supports the live export trade, and lets it happen. Untrained operators are cutting the throats of sheep and then throwing them into trenches and yet nothing is being done.
This practice is the direct consequence of the live export trade which has left the animals to face this unbearable hardship. Once the sheep leave our shores, this kind of cruelty can happen without the Australian government having the official power to intervene.
The live export trade is an inherently risky business. Australia cannot account for the actions of an importing country, which is evident here. This is why Australia can, and indeed must, move towards the more humane and sustainable option of on-shore processing. For the Australian economy, for farmers and for these poor animals, this is a win-win, sustainable solution.
Below, you can see the entire footage...
This situation is absolutely unequivocally unacceptable. Australian sheep are being clubbed, stabbed and buried alive whilst the Australian government stands by, supports the live export trade, and lets it happen. Untrained operators are cutting the throats of sheep and then throwing them into trenches and yet nothing is being done.
This practice is the direct consequence of the live export trade which has left the animals to face this unbearable hardship. Once the sheep leave our shores, this kind of cruelty can happen without the Australian government having the official power to intervene.
The live export trade is an inherently risky business. Australia cannot account for the actions of an importing country, which is evident here. This is why Australia can, and indeed must, move towards the more humane and sustainable option of on-shore processing. For the Australian economy, for farmers and for these poor animals, this is a win-win, sustainable solution.
Below, you can see the entire footage...
"The system does work!" says Minister Joe Ludwig
Tell the government that this is unacceptable by taking action at:
http://animalsaustralia.org/take_action/live-export-disaster-pakistan/
The OfA-petition
By signing our petition using the widget below or directly at change.org, the message below will be sent instantly to Australia's Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Mr Joe Ludwig ([email protected])
Dear Minister Ludwig,
Over the past 30 years Australia’s live export industry has exported over 150 million animals to the Middle East – to countries where there are no laws to protect them from acts of cruelty. During this time, some 2.5 million have died en route. Animals Australia’s seven investigations in the Middle East since 2003 have revealed that these animals may well have been the fortunate ones. They have also revealed Australia’s live export industry’s culpability in the cruel treatment of all animals in the region.
A memorandum of understanding put in place after the Cormo Express disaster of 2003, where 6,000 sheep died, is meant to protect animals involved in the live export trade. But the new cases, including the most recent ones from September 2012, suggest procedures for animal welfare in the live export trade have failed.
In regard to the new shocking evidence of live export cruelty that has emerged when tens of thousands of sheep where stranded - rejected by Kuwait and Bahrain after they had been on board for weeks - even senator Lee Rhiannon said that the situation is unacceptable. "The memorandum of understanding now looks like worthless bits of paper," she said.
The 30,000 baby cows from Australia that had been slaughtered - after weeks of transportation in horrible conditions and after they had been stranded for weeks in the Red Sea port - by the Egyptian authorities after they had discovered what they described as a “hormonal capsules” in the animals - is yet another very sad story to add to those of live export cruelty from Australia to the middle east and other places.
Evidence is mounting that Australian government regulations cannot protect animals from extreme suffering in the live export trade. The government's attempts to protect the welfare of Australian livestock are dependent on importers and exporters playing by the rules. They clearly cannot be trusted to do so.
With all the shocking evidence that has emerged over the last years, we believe that the point has been reached where the Australian government must do what the vast majority of Australians have been long calling on governments to do - and that is to end these cruel live exports once and for good.
The longest animal transport journey in the world is Australia to the Middle East and as documented time again and again, the animals experience stress and exhaustion, rough handling, hunger and thirst, extreme near-lethal temperatures, extremely high levels of ammonia, and generally unsanitary conditions as they are transported live across the world. As a result, the animals suffer horrific injuries, diseases are spread and many die before reaching their destination. Those who survive these stressful journeys will be slaughtered in the most appalling ways upon arrival. Most will have their throats cut while fully conscious - experiencing a painful and prolonged death.
Australia's long distance live animals transports are not only shockingly cruel, they are also unnecessary and they contradict the universally accepted principle that animals should be slaughtered as close as possible to the point of production.
For all of the above mentioned reasons, we urge you to ban live exports!
Sincerely,
[Your name]
Over the past 30 years Australia’s live export industry has exported over 150 million animals to the Middle East – to countries where there are no laws to protect them from acts of cruelty. During this time, some 2.5 million have died en route. Animals Australia’s seven investigations in the Middle East since 2003 have revealed that these animals may well have been the fortunate ones. They have also revealed Australia’s live export industry’s culpability in the cruel treatment of all animals in the region.
A memorandum of understanding put in place after the Cormo Express disaster of 2003, where 6,000 sheep died, is meant to protect animals involved in the live export trade. But the new cases, including the most recent ones from September 2012, suggest procedures for animal welfare in the live export trade have failed.
In regard to the new shocking evidence of live export cruelty that has emerged when tens of thousands of sheep where stranded - rejected by Kuwait and Bahrain after they had been on board for weeks - even senator Lee Rhiannon said that the situation is unacceptable. "The memorandum of understanding now looks like worthless bits of paper," she said.
The 30,000 baby cows from Australia that had been slaughtered - after weeks of transportation in horrible conditions and after they had been stranded for weeks in the Red Sea port - by the Egyptian authorities after they had discovered what they described as a “hormonal capsules” in the animals - is yet another very sad story to add to those of live export cruelty from Australia to the middle east and other places.
Evidence is mounting that Australian government regulations cannot protect animals from extreme suffering in the live export trade. The government's attempts to protect the welfare of Australian livestock are dependent on importers and exporters playing by the rules. They clearly cannot be trusted to do so.
With all the shocking evidence that has emerged over the last years, we believe that the point has been reached where the Australian government must do what the vast majority of Australians have been long calling on governments to do - and that is to end these cruel live exports once and for good.
The longest animal transport journey in the world is Australia to the Middle East and as documented time again and again, the animals experience stress and exhaustion, rough handling, hunger and thirst, extreme near-lethal temperatures, extremely high levels of ammonia, and generally unsanitary conditions as they are transported live across the world. As a result, the animals suffer horrific injuries, diseases are spread and many die before reaching their destination. Those who survive these stressful journeys will be slaughtered in the most appalling ways upon arrival. Most will have their throats cut while fully conscious - experiencing a painful and prolonged death.
Australia's long distance live animals transports are not only shockingly cruel, they are also unnecessary and they contradict the universally accepted principle that animals should be slaughtered as close as possible to the point of production.
For all of the above mentioned reasons, we urge you to ban live exports!
Sincerely,
[Your name]
