| March
3 2006
“Day
of Mourning” for ‘Al Messilah’ sheep – AACTIVISTS
condemn Roberts and the Government over new, irrefutable film footage
Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania
(AACT) is holding a “Day of Mourning” outside Roberts’
office in Launceston tomorrow from 11.30a.m. to highlight the role of
Roberts, and the government, in sending 75,000 sheep to Kuwait on the
“Al Messilah” last month. The peak animal advocacy organization
Animals Australia, of which AACT is a member, this week released explosive
film footage of the appalling cruelty to which animals are subjected in
five Middle Eastern countries, including Kuwait. The Roberts protesters
will be attired in black and carrying candles as a tribute to the gentle
animals who have been lost to this trade in animal suffering
“We have today provided
the Tasmanian media with Animals Australia’s footage, which shows,
in graphic detail, the dramatic failure of the Federal government to
implement any improvements to animal welfare in any of these countries
at all, despite all its claims to the contrary”, said Suzanne
Cass, Live Export Campaign Co-ordinator for Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania.
“In Kuwait, sheep are hog tied with wire, thrown on and off trucks
and breaking legs, and they are dragged to slaughter by their ears,
heads, and one leg, causing significant injuries. Last week, we saw
on “Sixty Minutes” the shocking brutality at the infamous
Bassetin slaughterhouse in Egypt, where cattle have their leg tendons
slashed and their eyes stabbed to disable and disorient them. There
is similar and worse material from Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain.
“All this proves without
a doubt that if anything, animal welfare conditions are even worse than
we thought after the 2003 investigation, which resulted in an exporter
facing cruelty charges in Western Australia. And this investigation
covers FIVE Middle Eastern countries, showing that this cruelty is endemic,
and regarded as ‘normal behaviour’”.
Exporter Emanuels, and two
of its directors, have been charged with cruelty offences under the WA
Animal Welfare Act. The case was adjourned yesterday until next month.
The Federal government actively
supports the live export trade, contributing vast sums to promote and
assist the industry, despite the fact that 50,000 tonnes of frozen meat
is exported to the Middle East every year, arguing falsely that Muslim
countries demand live animals for slaughter. The Australian Federation
of Islamic Councils denied this, and denounced the shocking cruelty shown
on national television last week, confirming that Middle Eastern countries
readily accept frozen meat.
“Our highly successful
protest in Devonport last month was predicated by the release of this
material”, continued Ms Cass. “The live export industry
is so complacent about its activities that we found numerous breaches
of the Standard for the Export of Live Animals (V1) even during the
limited monitoring we were able to carry out, thanks to Roberts’
influence over the Tasmania Police.
“I have film footage,
still photos and reports of what we believe are over-crowded trucks,
horned and unhorned animals being transported together, downed animals,
injured animals, ramps of inappropriate height and construction between
trucks and the wharf, forcing the animals to jump – and many get
their legs caught in the gaps. In one instance, a sheep is kicked, and
we believe that there unmuzzled dogs on the trucks at the loading point
as well. And once again, cattle trucks were being used to transport
sheep. I also have a report of a sheep being thrown from the gangplank
to the wharf below. About 300 animals were rejected from the shipment
because they were not fit to travel, indicating negligence at some point
in what the industry calls the “chain”.
“We have addressed
these concerns to Primary Industries Minister Steve Kons, and have yet
to receive a reply. And this is all before the animals have even left
Tasmania. Their gruelling transport and ultimate fate in Kuwait are
an atrocity ”.
AACT does believe that there
is a way forward from this, and is seeking a meeting with Minister Steve
Kons and other stakeholders with a view to ending the long-distance transport
of animals from Tasmania altogether.
“We believe that Mr
Kons, once he sees this material, will be far more sympathetic to our
aims and objectives. We have also had preliminary contact with David
Byard from the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers, and although our philosophies
and agendas obviously differ, we have been able to find some common
ground. AACT’s position is that of the generally accepted principles
that if animals MUST be slaughtered, it must be as close to ‘home’
as possible, and it MUST be humane”, Ms Cass concluded.
For further information,
please contact:
Suzanne Cass 0414 726935
|
