Belly, IMHO Crackup's post is typical of those who use OLO to vent
their frustrations. But all emotion and no reason is equally dangerous.

The whole live export debate has been going on for years, but I think
this time, MLA were caught with their pants down. Perhaps they need
extra funding or they need to hire some extra talent, to do their
job a bit better.

But cruelty is everywhere, it is a constant battle to minimise it.
Right here in WA, our own Dept of Conservation shut down the water
supply on a number of old stations. Any animals left around died of
thirst. Hardly pleasant. That from a Govt dept.

The thing is, AA are an animal rights group with serious money behind
them, who want to shut down the live trade at any cost. They don't
seem to like meat eaters too much either. Why did they not present
this footage to MLA some months ago? The aim is to use the publicity
to shut the trade down, one way or another.

Yet we know that there are some modern abbatoirs in Indonesia, some
use stun guns. We know that livestock are slaughtered in Australia
too using stun guns and still producing halal meat.

I am all for improving animal welfare in the third world. But farmers
levies alone can't do it. What about some of that 4 billion $ we
already spend on aid, to assist with introducing humane slaughter?

All that it seems, is not on the AA agenda. Most vegans would
prefer to shut most livestock farmers down too

First and foremost, these are not "rogue" operators, this is a view of what is required for "Halal" preparation - the beast must be prostrated in order to die from exsanguination (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exsanguination) which is required in order that the meat be Halal. The whole system sounds great until you see it in action, in order to get a full grown beast to stand still while it's throat is cut is no easy process.

For all those wringing their hands in horror - this is what comes of successive Government's destroying our Meatworks in favor of "live export" - put simply, it is cheaper to get the beasts shipped overseas and killed by Indonesian slaughterman than it is to pay Australian's to do the work. Thus the cruelty you see (and the job losses you don't).

The crocodile tears from the Cattle Industry are just that, they'd prefer to pocket the extra money just as soon as you all look away again. No Australian Slaughter-house/Meatworks would be allowed to operate with that level of cruelty - yes, the animal ends up just as dead, that is true. However, the animal is not subjected to cruelty/torture - if Halal preparation is dictated, it is accomplished on animals that have already been rendered unconscious by the equivalent of a .22 caliber strike to the head.

I've worked on a slaughter floor, I'm horrified to see the cruelty in these pictures. Stop the live export trade.

MLA say they are making progress with regards to training these rouges.

Boy, they must have been cruel 10 years ago!

It's a joke that has been going on for far to long and should be stopped immediately. To think uour governments have known about this for a decade or more and, tried to sweep it under the rug makes one ashamed to be an aussie.

All in the name of making a buck.

They should stop supply here and now and have a zero tolerance policy.

Conditions;
1. All animals slughtered must be stunned

2. Break this rule and you're history. For ever!

*if Halal preparation is dictated, it is accomplished on animals that have already been rendered unconscious by the equivalent of a .22 caliber strike to the head.*

There ya go, Custard. If you can do that to cattle in Australia,
to prepare halal meat, then you can do the same in Indonesia.
Halal does not have to be cruel. Meatworkers put them selves out of
a job by being so radical and greedy, that they sent farmers broke.

This debate has run here in OLO for years.
Heated, even nasty at times.
Vegans always get into the act and animal cruelty suffers as a result.
As the reality is blurred, this is not Halal. believe me a Muslim killing place in Australia would be closed for this, by both Muslims and us.
Australia wants to introduce stunning,Indonesian laws currently call the device used a weapon and ban it.
This Documentary has done its job, we will see change,a better way of killing cattle there.
No matter what country they come from.
It is blindness to think only religion stands in the way of exporting chilled beef and mutton.
It is costs.
The cost of killing over there is likely to be no more than a tenth of doing it here.
Now us opening abattoirs? using local labour of course, at what cost to those currently employed there.
Let us continue to train them, and to demand better but lets not just stop our farmers making a living, and transferring the trade [cattle still dieing this way] to other country's.
QUESTION [not saying it was wrong] how did ANY CAMERA CREW get inside to see this?

Belly,
No,as i pointed out in my last post,religous and cultural practice is almost impossible to change by education and training. The only way is to either purchasse the existing abbitoirs or build new ones. So we operate them to our standards, only then do we have control. We would have to put in Aussie section managers.

If our meat is better than the local product we will get our market share.

The big population of Indonesia would make it viable.