A TRADE IN CRUELTY

IN her letter (TB 7/10/21), Dominique Thiriet refers to ongoing animal welfare problems in Vietnam.

Alison Penfold, who was then CEO of the Australian Live Export Council, alerted producers to these problems at a Northern Beef Producers Forum held in Charters Towers in March 2015.

She discussed “flooding”, a practice in which cattle are “forced to consume large volumes of water delivered to the rumen by hose several times in the hours prior to slaughter” and “stunning by sledgehammer” in local facilities in Vietnam.

Some 85,488 cattle have been shipped to Vietnam from Townsville this year. Once animals reach their port of destination they are outside the control of Australian law.

Despite claims by the government and industry that the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System protects Australian animals by ensuring animal welfare, control and traceability, the reality is that Australian government regulation does not have legal effect in foreign jurisdictions.

Cattle have been shipped from Australia for slaughter offshore since the 1880s.

How much longer do animals have to suffer, both within ESCAS supply chains and outside of these, before our government ends this trade in animal cruelty?

JENNY BROWN,

Douglas.