Humane Chain Campaign - Day One

By Adam Valvasori - Values Manager

Day 1 of the Humane Chain was certainly hectic and all signs point towards this being a very successful campaign for us, WSPA and most importantly Aussie sheep.

I did an interview for a Geelong radio station 94.7FM The Pulse and we also were mentioned on Hobart's ABC Radio.

I had a very constructive and informative conversation with Mr Cameron Hall, CEO of Australian Livestock Export Corporation Limited (LiveCorp).
Mr Hall believes that the industry is doing a good job improving the welfare of Australian Sheep exported to the Middle East.

However the fact is 40,000 sheep still die every year en- route and many that survive are still being treated appallingly at their final destination.

So in our opinion there's still a need raise awareness and lobby the government and industry to pursue the most humane solutions.

Mr Hall pointed out that even though we're the world's biggest exporters we are not able to meet demand for sheep. In 2009 we supplied 3.5 million but the demand was for more like 5 million. In my opinion this puts us in a more powerful position in the trade relationship to control exactly how we supply the sheep.

They seem to need all the sheep we can produce, so why not make them buy it slaughtered humanely in Australia by Halal accredited meat workers? This is better for the sheep and better for Australian jobs.

The first customer Martine from our Bendigo (Vic) store talked with about this campaign happened to be a vet who works on the exporting ships. He said he's only given the equivalent of 6 seconds to check on every sheep. Sadly this means many sheep that are in pain are going unnoticed.

In good news, many stores have already finished their first books and many red chains are hanging all over the store.

Some stores are even taking the initiative to creatively communicate the problem to customers. Stores like Knox City (Vic) pictured here have used red electrical tape to demonstrate the insanely crowded conditions sheep are allowed to travel in. Current legislation allows three sheep for ever square metre. You try fitting into a box this small with two of your friends!

Thanks to Knox and Fountain Gate staff who let us take photos of them.

So get out there and join the Humane Chain at your local The Body Shop or online at www.humanechain.org/thebodyshop