THE RSPCA may have the answer for fed¬eral Labor politicians struggling to galv¬anise voters with the AWB bribery scandal.
The recent 60 Minutes program on Channel 9 revealing cruelty on Australian cattle in the Middle East hit a nerve.
Not that the RSPCA was surprised by the strong response from Australians outraged at endemic cruelty in the live export trade.
Many Australian voters may not give two hoots about $300 million in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein to sew up Australian wheat sales to Iraq. But it would be a different story if the AWB was ever linked to live exports.

The Gold Coast-based Halal Kind Meats is off to the backblocks of Queensland and West¬ern Australia to look for Australian slaughter¬ing opportunities. Dozens of Australian abatt¬oirs have closed since the live export trade boomed in the 1990s. Kindness to animals is part of the Australian 'fair go' tradition.
The temporary ban on the export of live cattle to Egypt over the 60 Minutes expose looks like a token gesture from a government committed to livestock exports.
Labor appears more concerned with the future of Australia's livestock trade overseas than banning the practice. Even noted animal

lover, HM The Queen, passed the buck back to Australia when asked to intervene.
Cattle rate No. 2 on live export numbers. Sheep are export kings. Those imperfect or injured ones not fed to the sharks or minced alive await their fate at Middle Eastern slaugh¬terhouses. Travel from farm to abattoir can take three months.
Animal welfare zealots reckon Australia's live export trade is 'a story of profit at any cost'. With six million sheep, 850 cattle and 100,000 goats shipped offshore each year there must be a juicy quid in the game for someone.

Why doesn't Labor home in on a Wesl Australian live export investigation which found the trade costs Australia $1.7 billion in local production plus $280 million in house¬hold income and up to 12,000 jobs?

The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils insists live exports are not necessary to comply with Muslim laws.
"That can be done in Australia under the Australian Government supervised Muslim Slaughter Program," said AFIC president Dr Ameer Ali. More than two million sheep were slaughtered in Australia last year for Middle Eastern markets and shipped frozen or chilled
THE Gold Coast BULLETIN, Tuesday, March 7, 2006 - Page 17

For those interested in livestock handling, how they think,
why etc, Temple Grandin is pretty well known for all this.

Here is her website.

http://www.grandin.com/index.html

Personally I have no interest in all the politics, I'd prefer
to discuss animal behaviour and what we can learn etc. Clearly
we all have lots to learn.

Hi Yabby
Thanks for that. I've read quite a lot of Grandin's material and it is a really worthwhile reference. Rojo, thanks to you too for your links and information.

Maybe what could be of interest to the Australian public who deplore live exports is the fact that Wesfarmers has bought the Coles/OfficeWorks chains, and already owned Bunnings (Hardware).

Cheers
Nicky

Yabby

You must be clairvoyant. Today we started a thread to discuss methods of slaughter and are just waiting on it to come through.

Once it is we will transfer your link to the other thread so not to be off topic on this one.

Ah, Yes Now you are talking. Something close to my heart. No we are not really into politics either just doing our job or grabbing every opportunity to highlight or put the spotlight back onto animal welfare.

If we trip over something we feel can be used to argue to slaughter here and support our position you will understand we will use it.

USA is going under and that will put the opportunity to play the live trade differently.
Halal is a trillion dollar industry and we have got to get it right.

Referring to your post she’s fantastic. I am just wondering why we can not at least enforce animal welfare codes nationally for our Australian plants.

I am curious as to what your opinion is on the most humane manner of slaughter?
Do you see the bolt as being more humane? Ask any abattoir worker or red meat bloke and he will tell you without a doubt?

Do you know anything about work started in Germany years ago to look at being able to Gas large Animals?

Others have argued differently of course. It’s not black and white either with Muslim people themselves. The more modern ones prefer Animals stunned.

Without fail every operator I have spoken with have put kosher as the number one cruelest method of all by hanging them upside down before death and often skinning them while still alive.

That’s not to say this has only happened in kosher plants.

If we can fly men to the moon surely we can find a more compassionate method.
Animals rendered unconscious by Gas are expectable as the animal is not brain dead so why are we not doing more to work on gassing of large animals like pigs.
Mind you plant operators say that is really bad also.

Whole things awful

Yabby
I said I wouldnt post here anymore and I wont after this very last coment.
However I was requested to post this to you.
I was asked to relay to this forum that wesfarmers no longer have any contacts or connections with live exports.

There are quite touchy about it to the point that all their Bunnings Staff were informed of their past involement and will assure customers they have no conection what so ever. I very wise business move.They would not hesitate to take steps to ensure we were not suggesting they were still involved.

In fact it was the best kept secret next to the AWB connnection considering the scop they used to be involved with.
No Actually theirs was even better kept secret.

They sold their interests in the live Animal Trade in August 2003.
There were however prior to that heavily involved.

There are companies all over the place for example that have direct links to live exports involved with Land Mark and Elders.

Some lead to banks and many to insurance compaines such as SGU were have St StGeorge bank operating as agents for them.

As yabby pointed out there are many companies that landmark and AWB are either directly or indirectly involved in but Bunnings and Wesfarmers should not be branded as being live exporters any more.

Well I hope that has clearned that up and goodnight.
See you I hope on the new thread.