“Abhorrent Animal Cruelty”: New Footage Sparks Calls To Ban Live Exports
Barnaby Joyce takes action (sort of).
Footage obtained by Animals Australia and aired by the ABC last night has shown Australian cattle being beaten to death with sledgehammers in a Vietnamese abattoir. The videos have sparked a federal government investigation and calls for the live animal export industry to be shut down.
The uncensored videos can be viewed here (Warning: The footage is extremely graphic). They show half a dozen cows being bashed in the skull before eventually dying.
The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has called the incident an example of “abhorrent animal cruelty” and has launched an investigation. According to the Department, “There is no reason to doubt that the animals depicted in video footage were exported from Australia”.
Animals Australia have made numerous complaints to the federal government over instances of severe animal cruelty and breaches of supply controls but, according to them, no action has been taken. In 2011, following the airing of similar footage filmed in Indonesian abattoirs, the then Labor government banned the export of all live cattle to Indonesia. Last month the Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, appeared to suggest the 2011 decision led to a wave of refugees arriving in Australia by boat.
Last night Joyce explicitly ruled out banning live cattle exports but three Vietnamese abattoirs allegedly using cruel slaughtering techniques have been suspended from receiving Australian cattle. The Labor Party has called for an independent office of animal welfare to monitor the industry, while the Greens spokesperson for animal welfare, Senator Lee Rhiannon, told Junkee that her party is calling for the live animal export industry to be suspended.
Animals Australia have launched a campaign calling on people distressed by the footage to contact their local MPs and call for a ban on the live export industry.