This is an item of horrific significance that the
general public may have missed, or been unaware of?

A report from the NT stating that the Ombudsman,
Carolyn Richards "was heartbroken" that apparently
no action has been taken over the issue of the death
by starvation of 800 head of cattle on Mataranka
Station, operated by the Charles Darwin University.

This issue was apparently reported by "whistleblowers"
sometime last year, followed by the Ombudsman "urging"
the Local Government Minister (NT) investigate this
issue further!

It now appears that the Territory Government has advised
Ms Richards that "It is too late to do anything about
the matter!"

This reeks at worst of gross political "cover-up", or
at best "gross ineptitude" on the part of the
authorities responsible for investigation and punishment
of those responsible for this act of wilful cruelty!

I wait in anticipation for the plethora of outraged animal
lovers, the RSPCA and the many other groups involved in
animal welfare, who in recent times seem to be exercising
their right to a "deathly silence" in this and many other
recent abominable acts of cruelty!

there isnt much to say
let alone much we can do
[especially on an opinion site]

yes i hadnt heard
but lets look back to look forward

here we got cattle[who owns them..specificlly]
is it the uni..or the course teacher..or the students
thing is
likly it will be too hard to cast blame
on any=one person as such[thus we shall get buck passing..etc]

we may have an enquiry
say this bloke or that shiela was payed
to look after the beasts over the holidays..
or between classes or experments..

in the end a little person will be blamed
maybe even jailed or fines or ridiculed/reviled

as tony says ssshhnot happens
its tradjic..its sad..its discusting
what we should be doing is finding ways for it to never happen again

and castrating the guy/gal..serf what done it
but who to decide..who to stand up..and say it was i

we need facts
not opinion

life is cccrap
anyone who dont know this
is in for a big shock..sooner rather than later

they gone
to a much better place
its them..who now feel sad..for us

they gone to cow heaven
its us still stuck here in the muck

think of all..who NOW
are thinking its their fault

should we hang the lot of em..or feel
as bad..as they no doudt do..feel...*now

we cant save them cows
but we can save it from ever happening again

There needs to be a real stir into this matter. The RSPCA and other animal welfare groups need to apply pressure to ensure that this matter is investigated and that it does not happen again. Whether it was due to incompetent staff, lack of funding, or whatever - this is a disgrace. The University does get public funding and should be held accountable. Simply brushing it aside on the pretext that "it's too late," to gather evidence and so on doesn't wash. If any of us starved our pets to death we'd be liable and legal action would be taken. More pressure is needed to be applied here.

Oh, the poor moo-cows.

But obviously, they have a different view of life in the Northern Territory than we latte-sippers in the metropolis.

Like this, for instance.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/boys-death-police-flayed-20110408-1d7rm.html

"Police treated as an accident the death of an eight-year-old Aboriginal boy whose body was found with head injuries and weighted with rocks in a water hole"

"Accidentally" weighted with rocks?

Nah, we're just being precious. It's not as if cattle were involved, after all.

I don’t get what the RSPCA are. They appear to have police powers or more when they enter a property and remove a pet aka persons property (as seen on TV).

So do they act as the police in all matters to do with animals here or are the police supposed to bring charges, collect evidence, and take it to court?

Are the RSPCA peoples trained like police then given certain controls under the law to do what they perceive to be correct or do the police accompany them on animal removal and entering private property cases?

Pericles that was shocking. I do hope ''managerial guidance'' means taken out and beaten before being imprisoned for helping a murder/ers remain free while causing such grief to a family and community.

Dear Pericles,

That was shocking! It reminds me of incidents described by Henry Reynolds in his book, "Why Weren't We Told?" published in 1999.
Many people denouced historian Henry Reynolds as a "trouble-maker." and his accounts - as lies. Times haven't changed at all, so it seems.

Oh, the poor moo-cows...lol...Thats not very nice.....they have feelings and family too you know. When it comes to beef, I think its in very bad taste very BAD:(.....I can see why that has higher priorities...too lets say 300 hundred million starving people! ( continue...Iam all ears:)

LEAP

Even more destructive is the Doomagee case in Qld, Pericles.

If we are to consider the things we consider acceptable, how could we possibly fail to notice or differentiate between a case of criminal murder, institutional murder, or commercial murder.

If I may expand, how do we as society determine which is worse ?,

(a)murder for pleasure or perceived gain (criminal murder), or
(b) accidental/intentional killing effected during the use/possible abuse of power, or
(c) the taking of life simply because it is commercially prudent to do so.

Which is most callous or most without regard for life ?.

You would have to ask yourself first, " which has the most detriment to the social fabric ? ".

Morally it seems to me, that the most scant disregard for life exists in commercial murder, followed by institutional killing,
and bringing up the rear, criminal murder.

After all,

(1) we can police criminal murder successfully and essentially keep the sicko's off the street,
(2) institutional killing is harder to police (for obvious reasons) than criminal murder, and has wider ranging social implications, and
(3)commercial murder is just inexcusable, and to my mind (even if the victims are cows),
and is the least compelling reason of the three, for the taking of life.

For me, the only valid reason for the taking of life, would be in the defence of one's own, or others lives.

Cruelty to animals is not new. You don't have to be vegetarian/vegan/animal rights campaigner to know that allowing animals to starve to death is a tragedy. It is cruel and an abrogation of responsibility. Who was responsible for the cattle. Did the responsible manager just forget about them.

It is odd that there are some that assume that if a person shows concern in the arena of animal welfare you must by contrast not care about people.

Why is that? I am not being facetious but sincerely interested in the psychology behind some of the predictable responses.

Dear Thinker 2,

Interesting thoughts raised - as always!

Dear Pelican,

Good point made!

Here is a few links I found quickly on googling Cattle starve NT.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/10/29/3051581.htm?site=darwin

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/northern-territorys-charles-darwin-university-escaped-lawsuit-over-starving-cattle/story-e6frfku0-1225983623039

http://www.fionalake.com.au/blog/news/agricultural-news-beef-cattle-industry/mataranka-station-animal-neglect-or-cruelty/

What I would like to know is why has not this gone to court?

What persons were responsible for the station management?

Why have they not been charged?

Where are the RSPCA?

Where are the animal activists that put on public displays (sometimes topless) to get public attention about animal cruelty?

Where are the activists that protest about cruelty of hunting?

Something is very wrong here and the hypocricy is dripping.

If the Feds can overide the NT about euthanasia, why not overide on this animal cruelty issue and bring them to book?

Looks as though things are gradually coming to light & maybe calling people rednecks for telling facts will ease somewhat..
I just hope some exposure on immoral bureaucrats will also come to light. Switch on your mobiles & start recording.

Pelican:”It is odd that there are some that assume that if a person shows concern in the arena of animal welfare you must by contrast not care about people.”

It’s weird since the links have been shown between cruelty to animals and children so it must work the other way around as well.

But far as live stock goes we have no worries about packing them up and putting them on boats to be abused horribly at foreign ports.
We lead the world in numbers doing that the last figures I saw. It was mentioned on that movie “Home” as rather unfriendly to the planet as well.

I just want to know what the RSPCA are and what powers they have. I tried to get them to help several times with an animal I watched slowly starve over months and get hurt by other animals it was fenced in with. It eventually died. I thought maybe I’d been calling the wrong crowd and would like to know what I should do if something similar comes up again.

Jewely:

I have had a similar experience, of much greater
propensity, when appealing to the RSPCA to intervene
in the starvation and ultimate deaths of many horses
on a neigbouring property at the height of the recent
drought.

A lot of the horses were mares in foal and were dying
on the ground whilst trying in vain to foal ( due to
emaciation and weakness )....this apparently was an
issue that had occurred many times prior, over a period
of many years, and complaints by various neigbours to
the authorities had failed to gain attention or action!

With this information at hand my wife rang the local
Police Station and asked for advice. The Policeman who
took her call was very concerned and assured her that
he would instigate some rapid action and asked us to
meet him at the subject property later that day.
When the policeman met us at the property, he was
accompanied by an RSPCA officer and the local Vet.

Three or four of the subject horses were standing around,
looking very forlorn. The RSPCA officer then suggested
that my wife and I could obtain some fresh hay and get as
many horses into the yards as possible and advise him
and he would then return, take photos and make a report!
(the local Vet did nothing, except pick his nose!)
I then told the RSPCA officer in no uncertain manner
that we were flat-out buying feed for our own cattle,
which were costing us $100 a day to feed, and that he
should obtain the neccesary hay to acheive the yarding
of the subject animals!
The Policeman appeared dumbfounded, and the Vet seemed
to be dis-interested, and at that point all left the scene!

We heard later that the Policeman received a rollicking,
when the Police Station received a bill for $300 from
the local Vet, and nothing
more occurred with the issue.....We then realised that
what we had been told appeared to be right and that the
whole issue was some sort of a cover-up!

RSPCA....?

That’s bloody awful Crackup. I did some googling, and found they are a Charity and in NSW receive monies in the form of a grant from the Minister of Agriculture.

Probably has the advantage of some awesome tax status as well.

Wiki says:
“RSPCA Inspectors are Special Constables, and often attend prosecutions of animal mutilators and abusers. Being Special Constables means that Australian RSPCA Inspectors are also police officers with full police powers.”

http://www.sosnews.org/rspca/index.php?page=abuse-of-powers
“At RSPCA discretion RSPCA can seize valuable property and sell that property for RSPCA's profit. Not even the Police can do this! RSPCA will abuse, threaten, defame, defraud, intimidate witnesses, fabricate evidence, assault, send nasty threatening letters, steal valuables, seize legally professionally privileged documents, seize evidence denying their victims use of this evidence, .... RSPCA will perjure and fabriacte evidence, RSPCA Veterinarians will fabricate evidence. RSPCA have UNLIMITED and UNSUPERVISED Powers. (given as evidence by Fiona Ferguson LLB in C J Strofield's Magistrate Court Brisbane on 24th November 2008, who holds a delegation under sections 154 and 155 of the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001.) The Crime and Misconduct Commission can not do anything because RSPCA is not a unit of Public Administration (not Public Service Sector, BUT a Private buisiness).”

I’m completely unsurprised and wish I’d never gone looking.

Why do we give the RSPCA any power, let alone police powers? Herd all the RSPCA staff up and make them trained officers in an animal protection branch of the police department.

Aussie has got to stop being so NGO mental.

Jewely:

The situation that I described was in a rural
area of South East Queensland, so maybe the RSPCA
up here are used to dealing in one-eyedness and
corruption, ....as appears to be the case!

Apart from the horses in question,...I felt really
sorry for the Police Constable involved, who by
trying to do the right thing, received a right
royal kick up the backside and was transferred
shortly afterwards,( and was apparently very
well-liked in the local community!).....Just goes
to show that there is no place for a genuine guy
in the Old Boys Club!

Your example Crackup does show the gravitas, or the social ramifications of the notion that "commercial considerations should preside above all else", has upon our society.

The horses oblivious (poor dumb animals), the police constable ostracised and sent to Coventry for his conscience response.

It all stems from "the concept of an acceptable level of cruelty, or control over the extent of cruelty", as a factor in our success formulae. Ruthlessness is revered in management, and placed on a pedestal in the world of business, not dissimilar to pulling the wings off a fly, is it really ?.

Alluding to my earlier point, about murder and the degree depth of human indifference to life: the decisions we make in such instances shape the beings we are. Such things as pulling the wings of a fly, or incinerating one with a magnifying glass, are considered part of the boyhood experience, not necessarily the taking of the life of another complex organism. We justify ourselves by making scientific observations such as "the fly wasn't intelligent enough to feel the pain".

The things we see as acceptable from an early age simply must have some effect in the long run, on the way we view the sanctity of life, (not just human), as the dominant species.

There is a connection between indifference to animal/even insect or plant life, ingrained within us or accepted within us, from an early age, and our subsequent and consequent views on the sanctity of life and its degree's, as we see fit, later.

Whether it be murder or apathy that drives the survival instinct in humankind,
either, may well be the Achilles Heel in our ultimate demise.

I regularly see an AQUIS officer who is rather picky when inspecting peoples' gear yet his own dog is covered by several dozen ticks. Well, not for much longer , it's nearly dead. Why don't I do something about it ? I'd be branded racist & lose my job.

Individual:“I regularly see an AQUIS officer who is rather picky when inspecting peoples' gear yet his own dog is covered by several dozen ticks. Well, not for much longer , it's nearly dead. Why don't I do something about it ? I'd be branded racist & lose my job.”

It does seem to be the way Australia rolls. Maybe back when there was a lot of convicts there was a culture of not dogging. Being a dobber was probably the worst thing you could be and so it has continued on today. The crime isn’t punished but the person who brings it to authorities’ attention is.

This is just my latest theory as I try to work out why everything is so twisted here.

Thinker: “It all stems from "the concept of an acceptable level of cruelty, or control over the extent of cruelty", as a factor in our success formulae. Ruthlessness is revered in management, and placed on a pedestal in the world of business, not dissimilar to pulling the wings off a fly, is it really ?”

There’s one I hadn’t considered.

Thinker:“There is a connection between indifference to animal/even insect or plant life, ingrained within us or accepted within us, from an early age, and our subsequent and consequent views on the sanctity of life and its degree's, as we see fit, later.”

This is more global and for many in the west that has changed a lot the last couple of generations or I thought it was changing. But people like Crackup still come across what he describes as "Old Boys" in charge.

Jewely

I'd leave my children with people who treat animals well, yet there are those who treat their children well but are completely oblivious to the welfare of their pets.



No doubt some people here can trawl for examples of well-treated pets and mistreated children - humans are idiosyncratic creatures. However, I believe this would be rare.

I remain hopeful that compassion will eventually win out over indifference to all living beings.

“I'd leave my children with people who treat animals well, yet there are those who treat their children well but are completely oblivious to the welfare of their pets.”

Fair enough Ammonite and your children, your call. Mind you some things only affect pets and not kids and are hard to deal with or get out of hand quickly – fleas etc. Gives the appearance of long term mistreatment where it might have set in quite rapidly.

“No doubt some people here can trawl for examples of well-treated pets and mistreated children - humans are idiosyncratic creatures. However, I believe this would be rare.”

Yeah probably, I’ve never come across it that way around. I think Child Services have some agreement with being notified by RSPCA in some states here which worries me.