It's not easy to watch the video below but you should try. Remember when you do, over four million sheep are exported from Australia every year.I watched parts of the video on the 7.30 Report last night and I just feel sick, disgusted, embarrassed and ashamed that we allow this to happen.
I feel it's a massive black mark against our humanity and dignity to allow defenseless animals to be treated with such barbarity and disrespect.
According to the Department of Agriculture our previous Government felt Australia are world leaders in animal welfare practices. Either they were deluded or the world standard is ridiculously low.
The video is a result of undercover research conducted by Animals Australia and a campaign called Handle With Care, launched yesterday by an impressive coalition of animal rights organisations which also includes RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming and our Values Partner WSPA. Animals Australia says: "We have spared you from the worse images (no slaughter footage is shown)."
The campaign is opposed by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) their spokesperson Scott Hansen said on the 7:30 Report :
"This is a trade that importantly the value that's created by it in large part is in rural and regional areas that don't have access to alternative marketplaces. And as such, it's a value and an economic worth generated for regions that really have little other options in terms of their markets."
Bzzzt! Wrong Scott. Australia exports live animals to meet a demand for Halal slaughter. Australia, however, also exports chilled and/or frozen meat to every country it exports live animals to and has Halal-certified export slaughterhouses currently supplying high quality Halal meat the Middle East.
So there's no reason why Aussie farmers would be out of pocket. In fact surely Halal slaughter in Australia would be more economical, as it would take far less room to ship. And the lives of thousands of animals that die during the transportation process wouldn't need to be wasted.I think it's laziness and lack of imagination on the exporters behalf. I talked to Ferida, a very helpful staffer at the Islamic Council of Victoria today to clarify some issues about Halal meat. She feels that Halal abattoirs in Australia probably do just as good a job as the Halal abattoirs in the Middle East. It's just a matter of importers and or consumers not trusting the level of integrity and quality of Halal slaughter in Australia as much.
Ferida quickly came up with a solution; simply invite Middle Eastern importers to inspect our Halal abattoirs to allay their concerns. It would also be easy for the MLA to run marketing campaigns in Middle Eastern media to build awareness and trust in Australian Halal Meats.
"Each animal has the right to sanctity of life and this life is taken from some by the permission of ALLAH (s.w.t) and for good reasons only for food, by the most humane and merciful ways of killing." - Dr. Abdul Majid Katme, (Chairman of the Islamic Medical Association in the UK)
Read more:
- The Handle with Care FAQ is very good.
- Handle with Care - The Cruel Truth.
- WA sheep exporter Emanuel Exports on cruelty charges (8 Feb 08)
- An Up-To-Date Assessment of the Muslim Method of Slaughter
It will only take 5 minutes to express your opposition to live exports, by writing an email from the Handle with Care website. They have everything you'll need to contact:
Don't forget to help spread the word about this campaign by letting your family and friends know. You could also contact the media by writing a letter to the editor or calling talk back radio.
Good Luck!
Adam Valvasori - Values Manager
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