@davidc4430wrote:
i hate the live export business
i hear those involved in it saying 'we take exceptional care of the animals from farm to delivery port/abotour.
but we keep seeing secretly filmed videos of animals in terrible conditions and dead on board these ships we would be led to believe are floating palaces.
if eveything is as good as they promote why not let the RSPCA have full acess to the ships from start to finish?
yes, we know why.
I was under the impression that the RSPCA do have access to the ships from start to finish.
I,m not trying to defend the indefensible. Many years ago I used to sell sheep to the live sheep trade, but no longer supply that market for all the same reasons, regular posters here dont like the trade. PLUS I think we should be supporting Australian meat processors and their employees, not OS companies.
Having said that I had the rare opportunity many years ago to board an active live sheep boat that was in port loading stock. ( as part of an Agricultural Diploma couse I was studying ) I have to say it was a lot better than I expected. The pens where in the process of being cleaned, so we saw them before & after as it where. They where dry and soft underfoot with a layer of spilt feed and manure. ( which is better for the sheeps feet than hard flooring ). The food was in raised troughs and was clean as was the water. The pens where not overstocked. The only " issue " I could see was a strong amonia smell in the air from urine. We where told this dissapated at sea as the sea breezes flowed across the ventilated decks. I dont have any reason to suspect that would not be the case.
While I have not had any involvement with the industry recently I do know from experience that all stock was thoroughly inspected on farm for animal health issues by livestock agents before being sent to port and again at port by RSPCA and other government animal health officials. I am confident that no unhealthy stock would make it on board. While not supporting the live export trade I would have to say, I dont believe the ships themselves are inhumane or the problem.
One issue that can arrise and is out of Australias control is that shiploads of stock can be rejected from the arrival destination port. This can be for genuine or percieved quarantine risk or more likely as a result of pay back for geo - political purposes. This risks leaving livestock stranded at sea for very extended periods of time, perhaps running low on feed and water. This is completely unacceptable and unneccesary.
Like others I have seen the footage of the barbaric practices carried out at some OS slaughter facilities. There is simply no reason for this to occur and the lack of oversight of these facilities is another reason why the trade to should be halted.
The final threat comes from the stupid, impulsive and unpredictable policy decisions made here in Australia by our own governments. When PETA aired their story of mistreatment of cattle in an Indenesian slaughter house on the Four Corners programme, there was rightly a huge public outcry at the animal cruelty depicted. Labor was in government at the time with Julia Gillard as PM. The Gillard Government like all politicians where beholden to polls and focus groups. Unfortunately they where also totally city centric & union dominated with NO IDEA about Australias agricultural industry. Their response to the crisis was not one of reasoned policy, but an impulsive and poorly thought out knee jerk reaction to halt the trade immediately.
What many people still dont realise is that the Gillard Governments knee jerk reaction eventually caused an animal welfare crisis of monumental proportions that made the Indonesion indescretions look like a sunday school picnic.
The Indonesian cattle trade is supplied almost entirely by Bos Indicus ( I think thats it ) Brahman cattle that are bred by and for northern Australian conditions. Logistically and due to specific breed requirments they cant be transported south. So you have this major industry that has lead times of perhaps two - three years from the time of mating cattle to Indonesian slaughter with huge numbers of cattle in the pipeline, but the tap turned off at the end by our own Labor government. What do you think happened ???
The cows kept calving, the young cattle kept growing past slauter age, more and more cattle where being carried on properties with no-where for them to go as the AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT had stranded them there. Unfortunately this also matched a period of well below average rainfall.........Well you get the picture.......... It was a horrible period for both cattle and the families that owned them. Many families went broke and lost their properties. Suicides escalated. Cattle either died of starvation or where shot. It was an artificial animal welfare & human disaster CAUSED BY OUR OWN LABOR GOVERNMENTS ERRATIC POLICY DECISIONS.
So for those reasons I think we should be processing our animals ourselves, where the Australian agricultural industry has control over the processes and Australian food processing companies and employees benefit.
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