Cruelty is real issue

A member of the state parliamentary panel inquiring into the Impact of Animal Rights Activism says it should “address the real issue,” that of “legalised animal cruelty”.

Andy Meddick, a Legislative Council member for the Animal Justice Party, said in a statement issued ahead of hearings in Gippsland, including at Warragul, last week that the inquiry must address the reasons why there are incidences of trespass.

He claimed protection laws for farm animals are inadequate and, in some cases, non-existent.

But another member of the inquiry panel, Eastern Victoria MLC representing The National Melina Bath, said evidence presented at last week’s hearings at Bairnsdale and Warragul by Gippsland farmers and agricultural producers made clear the significant impact law-breaking activists had on people, businesses, employees and communities.

She said evidence was also given of instances where “confronting activism” went unreported due to fear of further repercussions.

Ms Bath said animal cruelty is taken seriously by livestock producers because the animals are their livelihoods.

Things Mr Meddick said he’d like the inquiry to achieve included CCTV cameras in all slaughterhouses and factory farms, mandatory codes of practices and an independent office of animal welfare.

He claimed farm animals in Victoria can have their tails cut off, skin, teeth and testicles removed without anaesthetic, be thrown alive into an industrial mincer and asphyxiated with carbon dioxide gas.

You won’t even be fined $1 for that, Mr Meddick said.