Observer, I have checked out the websites and what I see is lots
of dreaming and talk. I judge things by results. Fact is that
WA farmers quit around 7 million sheep a year, present meatworks
can cope with around half that amount, usually at values far
lower then Eastern States prices.

Fact is right now that the live trade matters hugely to WA
farmers and sheep. Fact is that they have lifted their game,
made many adjustments and the trade is conducted humanely,
with better conditions then in most Queensland feedlots.

Credit where credit is due and right now the reality is
that the live trade matters hugely to WA farmers and many
of the claims made in the 60 minutes report are from many
years ago. Take a video camera and go to any Australian
saleyard, meatworks, shearing shed or even old peoples
home, and you will see stuff happening that would make
for interesting tv footage and shock some people.

Personally I am against factory farming of pigs, chickens
etc, where animals spend their whole lives in bad conditions.
There is a huge difference to spending your whole life
in those conditions, compared to a couple of weeks on a
boat, where animals actually put on weight.

So Observer, its all about results, not dreaming.
Results for 4 million plus sheep a year, at values that
are sustainable. Nobody has put forward anything like that.
The situation in WA and Queensland are quite different

Fact Is Yabby
You could not care less about Animal Welfare.
Its all just money money,
Fact is yabby Feed lots ae as cruel as live exports ALMOST.
Fact is they can be creek fed. Do even know the difference.?
Facts are yes it will take time to revert back to slaughtering all animals here in Australia yes I agree.

Fact is Yabby

Even the Muslims are saying they can be done here and THEY are the people taking them from WA in droves!

The real facts are intensive farming which includes feed lots instead of creek fed including all animals need to be put back to free range not only for animal welfare but disease.

Facts are as a farmer I can tell you its the corps that are into live exports the farmers just send them to market.

Facts are they will re open and re build plants in WA and other states as soon as possible.

Facts are I have been a farmer and my three generations before me and none of us would consider live exports.

We always slaughter locally because we are not barbaric and just after an extra quick five bucks an animal.

I also dont see why you have go at this woman and attack people who are working to put the jobs back in Australia and improve animal welfare .

Whats your Problem with that?

She never told you to stop your live exports now did she?

What she asked everybody was to look at the options.

I sat back and said to myself yeh this is a load of rubbish you are going on with.

Tell me are you a farmer because I am?

Fact is Observer, that I do care about animal welfare, but
I also care about informed and intelligent comment, not
just lots of misinformed rhetoric.

If you care about animal welfare, then you have heaps
of feedlots, factory farms, neurotic pets locked up in
peoples apartments, hobby farmers who through ignorance
and neglect mistreat animals, those things make the live
sheep trade out of West Australia look directly virtuous
lol. If you are against the live cattle trade out of
Queensland, then fine, thats your issue over there for
you guys to sort out, but leave us here in the West
out of it!

Fact is yes I have a farm, fact is that by far the
majority of farmers in WA support the live trade, but they
agree that it needs to be done humanely, which is what all
the large changes have been all about recently.

Fact is that the difference between the live trade prices
and meatworks prices here can be up to 40$ a head, as
meatworks pay not a cent more then they have to, significantly
less then in the East. The live trade thus puts a floor in
the market and many survive in farming because of that
difference. 40$ by 1 thousand head a year, is enough to
live on after all.

I had a go at Wendy, as I was getting tiered about hearing
her claims about how evil the live trade was, when she clearly
knows little about the live trade from WA. Perhaps she should
clarify herself in future and mention that its the live cattle
trade from Queensland that she is against. Thats fine, so
make that clear and leave us West Australian farmers, who
overwhelmingly support the live trade for very good reasons,
out of it.

So many armchair critics attack the trade, usually they happen
to know very little about it. They are free to come and build
their plants here, market the meat as they think is possible,
nowhere are sheep and lambs cheaper then in WA. Until that
time is reached, leave us alone lol.

Yabby from the Arm Chair
The Fact is the prices vary from shipment to shipment week to week andeven day to do. Normall the difference is between 5 to 20 per head. The fact is live exports have put the prices up to the Australian public to the point many go without.Even if it were 7100.00 dollars a head NOTHING justifes such cruelty.

Media Release

24 February 2006

Australian Muslims Are Against Animal Cruelty

The President of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Dr, Ameer Ali
Today called on the Australian media not to act irresponsible in misinforming the
Australian public about the real reasons for live exports.

Dr. Ameer Ali said that Muslims are primarily concerned to ensure that the
Animal is slaughtered in accordance with the Islamic Shariah, ad that can be
Done in Australia under the Australian Government supervised Muslim Slaughter
Program (AGSMS) and we want the Australian public to know that we do not
Agree to animal cruelty.

He further said that Muslims in the Middle Eastern countries readily accept
frozen and chilled lamb and mutton from Australia, once it is Halal certified
under the program. Last year Australian lamb meat exports to the Middle East
was up 36% to a record 14,052 Tonnes, and Australian mutton meat export to
the Middle east was up 24% in the same period to 36,051 Tonnes (ref. Farmonline
News 1 Feb 2006). This represents the equivalent of more than 2 million sheep
which were slaughtered in Australia for Middle Eastern Muslim customers.

Dr. Ali said that the Australian Muslims does not support the cruel treatment of
animals prior to slaughter. That has been documented in Egypt as the Qur` an
dictates that animals should be treated with kindness.

Wendy,
thanks for the links, they do work now and I admire you for the worthwhile work you do. I’m glad about the Muslims’ support on the issue of animal cruelty. About a year ago they showed some footage on TV about sheep transports and I was shocked about the cruelty.
I found the Voiceless website as well about animal laws- very important. I read their 5 point challenge and already ‘pass’ 4 of them but sin on , partly - the leather/suede products. I like leather/suede boots and shoes and like the leather look; I also have a leather sofa and thought that leather and suede are just by-products form meat production. I’d never have bought or will buy fur products though because these animals are only bred for their fur.
About the live shipping- if it’s true that it has greatly been improved, I’d like to see some evidence of that- does anyone have any articles that discuss this, or a website perhaps? I imagine that no matter how improved the shipping is going to be, if the journey is a very long distance then it can be really stressful for the animals. Perhaps if this is the only solution, then there can be rest and recover stops where animals can go on land for a few days and the floors can be cleaned before the animals get on board again. Some might laugh at this idea- what do I know hehe.

Back on track, in the meantime I’ve told MP Peter McGauran about my concerns about the treatment of farm animals in ‘factory farms’.
Observer, was this the wrong PM to write to about this as well? Who do you suggest I’d write to about factory farming?
2B continued

I also contacted the Dutch adopt a chicken’ site (they also have adopt a pig, an apple tree etc options now, so they’ve extended their range) and asked them if they would be willing to advice other counties about the setting up of something like the adopt a chicken idea. I also suggested having an English translation so it’s possible for other counties to find out about this program and follow the idea. They replied to say that they would be willing to help. I then wrote to the RSPA about it and the reply was that they like this idea and it will be considered by the management for discussion. I have to admit, I do not know enough about farming and the specific needs of Australian farmers to see if this could work in Australia; I’ll leave that for others to decide.

What angers me too is that there are counties like Canada that still allow the baby seal hunt to continue. I hope that Australia is one of the countries that boycott the import of these pelts. Does anyone know if Australia boycotts these pelts? I suppose we do. I think this boycott should be extended to boycotting all of Canada’s seafood until they end the seal hunts. As long as countries like Norway, Germany and China still offer a market for the pelts, other countries that do care will have to be firm on this issue.