Slaughter of Australian cattle in Indonesia investigated after distressing video released
Federal agencies are investigating the slaughter of Australian cattle in the Indonesian province of Aceh after distressing new video footage emerged.
Animals Australia on Friday made a complaint to the department of agriculture about the alleged breaches at two facilities which the activist group said involved practices first exposed in 2011. The footage was gathered in late July and early August.
The Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council (ALEC) is investigating what happened.
The council’s chief executive, Mark Harvey-Sutton, said the killings were distressing, unacceptable and inappropriate.
“Exporters have genuine care for the livestock in their supply chains, they act quickly to investigate, working closely with importers and in-market teams,” he said on Tuesday. “The industry is regulated and there are systems in place to make any necessary decisions to stop future non-compliance.”
Harvey-Sutton said offending facilities could be removed from supply chains if breaches were identified.
The federal government recently decided against appealing a federal court ruling that a six-month ban on live cattle exports in 2011 was invalid.
Live cattle export-linked industries are expected to receive hundreds of millions in compensation for the temporary ban.
The Animals Australia chief executive, Glenys Oogjes, said the system would not protect animals from brutal treatment until sanctions include licence suspensions.
“That Australian cattle in Indonesia are still being killed via the banned Mark I (retraining) boxes and roping slaughter should be of grave concern to all in the cattle industry,” she said.
“It was deeply disturbing that slaughter practices exposed in 2011 are still being used in 2020 despite the existence of the exporter supply chain assurance system.”