WE MUST BAN CRUEL LIVE EXPORTS

KUDOS to New Zealand for banning live export by sea on animal welfare grounds.

The New Zealand government is banning live export by sea over a two-year period – because the country acknowledges the cruelty inherent in live export cannot withstand increased public scrutiny. Our government and live export industry instead try to pull the wool over our collective eyes by telling us they have “world’s best practice”, Export Supply

Chain Assurance Systems

(ESCAS) and independent observers on ships to show their operations are within community expectations.

This industry spin belies the fact that breaches of the supply chain continue to occur in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Middle East with no consequences for the exporters but hideous consequences for the cattle and sheep who are hacked to death in unapproved slaughterhouses. No independent observers have travelled on ships since March of last year, and before then their roles became more restricted, from being present on all ships to only being present on ‘long haul’ shipping scheduled for longer than 10 days.

Photographs from previous independent observers showed cattle crammed in manure-soaked

pens for days on end. “World’s best practice” is very hollow when our major competitors have no standards to speak of. Last year over 268,000 cattle were shipped out of Townsville to Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.

None of these countries have enforceable animal welfare laws and all three have appalling animal welfare standards.

Footage continues to leak out showing protracted barbaric slaughter, yet still the industry misleads the public.

Prior to live export, cattle are kept in pens with no shelter from the oppressive North Queensland sun or torrential rain in the wet season. The live export industry and its supporters in government can sugar-coat their barbaric trade by inviting members of the public on board when the ships are newly cleaned at port, but they cannot escape the tide of public disgust at their immoral business model.

New Zealand and the UK have seen the writing on the wall and have committed to abolish the long-haul movement of live animals – time is long overdue for Australia to find its moral compass and abolish cruel live export.

REBECCA SMITH, President – Townsville Against Live Export,

Kirwan.