I think that it is tremendous that someone of the stature of the Professor, and of Voiceless founder Brian Sherman, have brought the attention of the community to the terrible cruelty of factory farming. Some of the posts here I can only hope are facetious (particularly the first one), if not, then I hope there is really a "judgment day" awaiting you, along with all intensive farmers and those who participate in exporting live animals to overseas countries. When is enough enough in making a couple of extra dollars for a "product" - which is a living, feeling, sensitive animal? Pigs farmed in intensive operations effectively go insane, with stereotypical behaviours like bar biting and screaming. Cattle and sheep in feedlots live similarly totally barren lives. Transport, feedlot and saleyard conditions are atrocious, and where is the RSPCA? Protecting cats and dogs (many of whom do need it). Farm animals? Forget it. The fact is that the RSPCA has been instrumental in developing the voluntary "Codes of Practice" that allow these sadists to keep animals in these conditions. Tens of thousands of animals die on live export ships every year, and they are the "lucky" ones. The survivors face unspeakable cruelty in importing countries, as we saw on "Sixty Minutes" in February. And farmers? That privileged group in the community that constantly looks for handouts in between tax evasion schemes, and the same one that cries "extremist" when questions are raised about the welfare of their animals. "Shame" doesn't cut it where these people, and government who support them, are concerned. And I really don't think that "pets", or "companion animals" are part of a debate about intensive farming.

This post is added in order to note responses to this article.

The author appears to have a protected life, not been in the wilds of Australia, where pig hunting is rife.
Yabby, those dead kangaroos do not go to waste, the wild pig, crows & other scavengers get a feed.
By the numbers that go splat on our roads we still have our humans scooping up the joeys to rear on
Bottle of special formula.

There are great tracts of land in Australia called National Parks where all the wild animals roam free.
Yes, and the dingo’s and wild pigs as well as hungry birds invade the farms & urban yards, then you have a health problem,
not only from them fighting & killing your pets and farm animals but the diseases & worms they spread also.

Wonder how many bugs your vegetarians swallow? It is not kosher to eat bugs, worse than eating ham, to a Jew,
so they must spend a lot of time scrubbing the lettuce. Should they swallow a fly, they be damned indeed!

Nicky
Good for You. Clearly Realist does not understand part of the reason why Australia meat is so popular overseas. Realist its called clean green. Unlike yourself some of these people who have been around for a few years longer than us understand the word disease. They also understand where it comes from and why. Lots of them prefer to supply their children with drug free and disease fee meat products. You can only do this by Free range Farming and creek feeding. Do you Realist know the difference between creek feeding and intensive feed lots? Perhaps if you did and lets just say for eg you were a parent you might prefer these products.
Tell me Realist do you know what foot and mouth is? How about the year it first came to Australia do you know how and why it got here?
Or the penalty back then for killing a beast and eating it and why? Lets not talk about the animals suffering realist because I can see you are not interested. Lets talk about being a good family member and buying disease free meat to your family. I see you have mentioned bird flue.Any idea where that comes from Realist?
In the mean time I just wanted to mention to you Nicky that the RSPCA in most States have MOU with DPI to inspect farm Animals.
So it is not really the RSPCA who check animals for live exports but DPI and AQIS. That is of course State and Federal Government staff. Keep up the good work Nicky and all the others.
Intensive Farming is an act of gross cruelty and injustice carried out under a mockery of legality by people as ill informed and removed from common deceny

Mirko
Your work and efforts are a real credit to you. However we have told Brian Shermann and his daughters many times in order to make a real difference they must support alternatives and help find them to intensive farming. There is no point writing and telling everybody to support Free Range Farming and then refusing to do so themselves.

A program was put together to introduce some funds into this country which would allow many old an new regional people to get involved in a Free Range Farmers plan.

It would also allow for much needed capital to either re open or build new slaughter plants to stop long hauls in transport and Live Animal Exports.

We received a letter from voiceless which explained they could not work with us on this programe because it was to do also with building abattoirs and they did not want to get involved with that.

Thats silly. no wonder many brand these groups as extreme or hypocrits.
Animals Australia and Animal Liberation hold the same view.

"Well hello," unless we introduce more Free Range Farms and more abattoirs to service Free Range Farms Live Exports and Intensive Farming will not only just continue but multiply- which it is.

We tried to warn Brian not to get labelled extreme or a hypocrit.

Anybody serious about Animal Welfare must face the facts. Which are Farmers Grow animals to kill for meat.
There is no way around that. 96 percent of the public eat meat.
If you are reading this Brian here is the link for the project again.
Your a good person.
Dont get labelled and seen working with extreme groups Brian because I know you really want to make a difference.
Be your own Man
http://www.halakindmeats.com/submissions.html

While I have no doubt of the overall sincerity of the previous correspondent, People Against Live Exports, I don't think that this forum is one for advertising, as looks very much to be the case here. Nor should it be used for the purpose of personal criticism of named individuals, in this case, Brian Sherman AM. It begins to look like the comment has "vested interests" attached if you follow the link. My apologies if that is not the case, but Mr Sherman and Voiceless have made enormous contributions to animal welfare in this country. If they choose not to fund organizations in the business of slaughtering animals, irrespective of their connections, for whatever reasons, it is their decision, and not one to be debated here.