Ludwig Orders Inquiry Into Indon Cattle

[k9angel]

*WARNING: the link has GRAPHIC pics & video*. I did not watch the video. I couldn't.

Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig has ordered an inquiry into the claims of mistreatment of Australian cattle exported to Indonesia.

Senator Ludwig said he was shocked by TV footage of mistreatment of these animals, shown on the ABC Four Corners program on Monday night.

He said it was clear that industry reforms to animal welfare standards had not gone far enough or been fast enough and much more needed to be done

"I have ordered an immediate investigation into the footage by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and have asked them to provide me with all available options in response to the evidence," he said in a statement.

On the Four Corners program, film taken by animal welfare activists showed Australian cattle at various Indonesian abattoirs having their throats cut on average 10 times when it should take one stroke, dying prolonged deaths and being beaten and gouged.

Animals Australia, the RSPCA, and the Australian Greens and independent MP Andrew Wilkie, are now demanding the government end live cattle exports to Indonesia.

Industry body LiveCorp was handed the footage earlier this week and moved immediately to suspend trade to three abattoirs. It has sent training experts to a fourth.

"While we face many challenges in improving animal welfare in a developing country ... we've made major progress during the past decade," LiveCorp boss Cameron Hall has said.

"No other nation has the same commitment to animal welfare as Australia and no other country invests in animal welfare like we do."

The program sparked an immediate response from politicians.

Labor backbencher Kelvin Thompson told parliament on Monday he supported a ban of live exports to Indonesia, saying Australia should pursue the chilled meat trade.

Fellow Labor MP Janelle Saffin argued the same when she launched a private member's bill back in March.

Greens senator Rachel Siewert, who is also drafting up a bill to stop the trade, urged him to immediately cancel export licences, arguing that the draft laws could take months to take effect.

"These slaughter practices are very extreme and systematic, they are not isolated incidents," she said in a statement.

"This trade simply cannot continue in this fashion."

Senator Ludwig said he had directed the Department to implement a moratorium on the installation of any new Mark I restraint boxes, as seen being used on the Four Corners program.

He said that would apply to the instalment of any new boxes with Commonwealth funds across global markets.

"Further, I have asked the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer to coordinate an independent, scientific assessment of the on-going appropriateness of both the Mark I and Mark IV restraint boxes," he said.

Senator Ludwig said he had also requested a thorough briefing on all of the legislative and regulatory responses available to him, including the banning of trade to specific facilities or destinations.

"I asked industry at the beginning of this year for proposals on how welfare outcomes could be improved, particularly after animals arrive in importing countries. I am currently considering these proposals," he said.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/9545951/ludwig-orders-inquiry-into-indon-cattle/

Disgusting treatment of animals. I hope they put a stop to it.

[Katie P]

very sad and I dont understand why people do this.

[Robbi]

The worth of a country and its people is judged on the treatment of their animals, we are complicitly condoning torture by allowing our livestock to be exported to these torture houses. Australias shame and Indonesias worth are now being aired for the general public, it is up to us to voice our disgust and stop this indefinsible shame now.

[k9angel]

There has been an update on the yahoo link:

Government suspends live export to torture abattoirs.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/9545951/ludwig-orders-inquiry-into-indon-cattle/

[brightonrock]

After viewing the Four Corners "A Bloody Business" I now will no longer eat beef. I also do not eat pork for the same reason. I love the taste of meat but because I can't be sure the animals have been killed with the quickest, kindest method I will now choose to go without.

I have so little hope for the human race when some care nothing for the animals in their lives.

[puglvr]

We live on a farm and my husband kills all our meat. He is very quick and humane. I couldn't watch the program last night and even he had trouble watching.

[skyesblue]

I agree with turkishdelight, no meat will be served in my house again. The image of the black cow shaking, knowing what was coming I will never forget. It disgusts me that this has been going on since 1993 with little improvement in slaughter methods in Indonesia and it takes an TV show to make a change. This world is only about the $$. I just hope that when people forget in a few months time about this that it doesn't get 'swept under the rug' again.

[KatrinaM]

Pipsmum, how do you know there has been little improvement? Have you been involved in the beef industry in Indonesia since 1993?

It could be argued, (in say, a persuasive video documentary made by an animal rights group highlighting worst practice) that dog ownership should be banned as there are plenty of people who beat, kick, abuse, neglect etc dogs in Australia, even after 140 odd years of the RSPCA. And this abuse is not even done in the name of religion.

I like cattle nearly as much as dogs, it’s horrible that more respect isn’t shown to them and something needs to be done. The beef industry has been working towards a solution trying to convince all Indonesian meatworks they should stun before they kill. Try convincing Catholics that birth control is alright or Jews that it’s OK to eat bacon. It isn’t easy to change religious views nor traditions. It’s a big ask to expect somebody to treat a dog exactly as you want it after you have sold it, it is a little bit trickier with a meat animal in a foreign country.

It isn’t simply a matter of killing the cattle in Australia. There are no suitable facilities or staff at the moment to do such here, the road system in Indo is crap and they have little to no refrigeration. If it were that easy we would have been value adding a long time ago.

If we stop exporting cattle to Indonesia today what will feed millions of Indonesian people, who will financially support all the people involved in the industry from pastoral workers here to the meatworks over there who are doing the right thing? What will happen to the cattle industry when there is no market for these steers? Do people want to take on each to live in their backyard or should we just shoot them in the paddock?

[skyesblue]

Did you watch this fortage?? We are not talking about the odd animal been kicked or abused this was animal after animal taking minutes to die with their throat cut several times while fully awake. Animal after animal suffering was the norm.

I can understand what you say about animal rights groups. One could agrue that the worst footage was shown however 4 corners also filmed with exactly the same amount of suffering. Yesterday while in the car i heard a minister say that they had seen all the footage and what we were shown was not the worst - that could not be shown on Australian TV.

And yes i do feel sorry for those in Indonesia that rely on this to feed there families as well as Aussie farmers. But do we turn a blind eye to this just because people make a living out of it?? I dont have answers to what they should do but the suffering to these animals is not acceptable. It should not have been going on since for 15 years from when we first sent live animals to them and if you think things are good or improved now then i hate to put my mind back to 1993 and what went on then.

I am not againist anyone eating meat i just think that they sould be slaughtered with as little discomfort to the animal as possible. I actually personally dont have anything against live export providing the animals is well cared for and slaughted humanly with little suffering.

Edited May 31, 2011 by pipsmum

[KatrinaM]

I surely have seen the footage. Things have improved dramaticly in a great deal of their facilities. Some have improved a little bit and for them there is a long way to go before they are acceptable.

Just because two people can film the same thing doesnt make it a widespread practice.

Again was there a great deal of time devoted to the 60 odd places that have really picked up their game since Australia began exporting there and could be considered best practice? What about the 11 that currently use stun guns? These improvements have been made due to meat and livestocks involvement. Should we ban exports and walk away from Indonesia and let them torture somebody elses cattle or should we work together with them on implementing more humane methods for all livestock?

Cattle deserve better but religion and tradition are difficult to change.

Edited May 31, 2011 by KatrinaM

[stormie]

Cattle deserve better but religion and tradition are difficult to change.

The treatment of these animals have nothing to do with religion or tradition.

THE brutal methods used at 11 Indonesian abattoirs now banned from importing live cattle from Australia are wrong according to Islamic law, a senior Indonesian cleric declared yesterday.

Sholahudin al-Ayubi, secretary of the Indonesian Ulema Council, the national clerical organisation, said the practices that had been exposed - the gouging of cattle's eyes, slashing with blunt knives and the breaking of limbs - were unacceptable under sharia.

"Slaughtering has to be done in the Islamic way to make the meat halal (lawful)," Mr Sholahudin said. "The point of Islamic slaughtering is ihsan (best behaviour): for example, sharpening the knife so the animal does not feel pain and dies right away."

[greytpets]

We can only change what happens to our (Australian) livestock but it's a start. I for one find their treatment totally unacceptable & you will never convince me otherwise. It is typical that where money is involved some people will find an excuse to make anything acceptable.

[KatrinaM]

Sorry stormie, it does. Traditionally cattle were killed by tying them down, facing them towards Meca and slitting their throat, which is pretty rough when you see it done. The welfare of the animal is not always a consideration. Thats the way they have always done things so why should they change? We are trying to change the way livestock who have been purchased from us are handled in another country, one where people arent exactly treated that flash. Its a bit of an ask to think its going to happen overnight.

There is diagreement between clerics as to whether the use of stun guns will still allow the meat to be Halal. If it does cause instantanious death then the meat becomes haraam and their lies the problem.

Sholahudin al-Ayubi is not lying - gouging eyes, broken legs and blunt knives are wrong in anybodies culture, and I am certainly not defending that. There is no excuse for these things to happen, in Indonesia or anywhere else in the world.

If people really cared about cattle and how they are handled why wouldnt you want to change the way cattle are treated across the board? It is silly and unworkable to have one set of rules for Austrlian cattle and another for all the rest.

[skyesblue]

Its obvious we both have different points of view on this and we could argue back and forth for weeks.

If you think that the we can work with Indonesia to change the way cattle is slaughtered to fit in around their religion then by all means let it happen. When the slaughter method is perfected then we can start exporting to them again. Why should 20,000 odd australian cattle per year suffer in the mean time?? At the moment i do not feel that it is acceptable for any animal to be treated this way. It has nothing to do with religion. My understanding is that the Australian meat indusrty had already been working for many years with little success in changing their methods.

If i had a dog that i had breed and knew that if i gave it to a certain home the dog in a few months would have a horrible, painfull,cruel death without any consideration to the animal i would not rehome it. I am sorry, it would not matter what their religion would allow. We breed these animals, we have a resonsibility. If your a farmer and send a cow over to indonesia there is a very real chance that at the moment this animal is going to die a suffering death. Just because they are a cow does not mean that they deserve to die in pain or that its ok to allow this to continue while we are trying to change things which may take years, if ever, to change.

Edited June 1, 2011 by pipsmum

[john.davey.1960]

All forms of animal torture prior to death need to be opposed, whether it is Halal, Kosher or Indigenous practices. If we can't change their minds then we need to oppose their methods and not sell to them. Of course somebody else will but it is their concious which will not be troubled, not ours. Australia does not have a good track record with animals and neither do the animal rights people. We need to fix our own problems first.

[darlingdog]

It seems to be a sad fact of life that where money and business are involved that often the line of what's right, fair and humane can get very blurred indeed. The fact of the matter is that this unhumane treatment of living creatures whether they are here or in Indonesia is WRONG with a capitol W .....

Now we have no control over what happens in another country but we can as a nation say enough, this must stop NOW...not in 3 years, not next month... but NOW ! No amount of talking or explaining can ever make this ok. I cannot give a rat's arse whether this is acceptable for another religion or nation or whether or not from a business point of view it will make things difficult for producers either here or over there..it's WRONG PERIOD ! If we as a nation cannot get up off our sofa's and say stop it...we should be ashamed of ourselves.

There is that old saying 'the end justify's the means'...so if we apply this we are saying...well it's a. shame the cattle have to be tortured and suffer prolonged deaths but it's ok because all those people have jobs and food.

I really hope the media keeps the light on this in the hope we can get something done that does not just scratch the surface but that really can make some changes and that it doesn't degenerate into the whole muslim religion thing.

[RottnBullies]

I don't care much about religious practices or beliefs, but honestly what kind of religion deems It ok for an animal In which they are about to consume to suffer any more than It should Is that the thanks they give for receiving this food It's disgusting and definitely NOT acceptable on ANY level especially using religion as their cover up. It's pathetic

[KatrinaM]

pipsmum, how are they going to "perfect their slaughter method" if they don’t have any cattle to kill? There has been a great deal of success in Indonesia so far. There is no certainty cattle sold into Indonesia will be tortured. The 60 odd places that kill cattle well were not featured. The larger places that kill for supermarkets and use stun guns weren’t featured.

When breeding or selling anything there is no guarantee of where it will end up, be it dog, steer or refrigerator.

Just as Pedigree Dogs Exposed pointed the finger at the minority of breeders doing the wrong thing this has pointed the finger at the minority of Indo meatworks who are doing the wrong thing.

So many people have come out with "we have to ban this" with no thought of the consequences for the people or animals and offering no real practical solution.

[skyesblue]

They have there own cattle in Indonesia, i've been there and seen it.

Edited June 1, 2011 by pipsmum

[Bullbreedlover]

So many people have come out with "we have to ban this" with no thought of the consequences for the people or animals and offering no real practical solution.

What would your solution be KM??

I propose the banning of live beef, sheep and goat exports from Australia completely.

edited to delete NZ.

Edited June 1, 2011 by Bullbreedlover