The once respected RSPCA is one of the most disgusting organisations in Oz.

They have twice in my area turned up, media in tow, to pull one of their money raising raids on true animal lovers, trying to help horses unwanted by their owners. These people were straining their finances to try to help, & should have been praised.

Obviously they are conspiring with TV stations to falsely accuse these people, for no other reason than they want to con donations out those not smart enough to see they are being manipulated.

Conspiracy is a serious charge, & should be applied to all who do it, including the RSPCA & Greenpeace.

The ASPCA, & the Red Cross, who misappropriated millions donated for the Brisbane flood appeal, to other causes, [probably their salaries] have both been advised by a few of us, to keep their collectors out of our road, as our dogs don't like them.

Belly,
I no longer donate to the RSPCA either. Nor other animal rights organizations or Greenpeace. I saw what these greenies types did on the south coast NSW, smashing valuable machinary and driving steel spikes into trees deliberaly endangering the lives of timber workers.

Not only is the RSPCA getting more radical but you may find they are partly government funded as well. They certainly have legislated powers that ordinary folk do not posses and some refer to them as gestapo.

I am pleased to have some support here.
Just as concerned about animal welfare as any one.
But seems few saw the 7.30 report that bought my thread to life.
ONCE the RSPCA was a well respected group, no longer.
It is the tool of the more radical.
First who took this film?
Why is it not dated.
Are the cattle Australian.
Is it true the new legislation stops such cruelty?
Are City dwellers aware how hard it is to make a living in the mostly remote cattle areas?
I KNOW, we will see demands for setting killing places here, exporting meat not animals.
I too know, that comes from the totally uninformed.
Jewish slaughter house need to kill in human ways.
So this is failure at that point.
A need exists for under standing this trade is the only income for SOME.
We could do worse than filter news reporting through a BS filter.
Media acts poorly in pursuit of headlines not truth.

Yabby there are certainly extremists in any cause but I hesitate to use them as the benchmark to measure all others including the RSPCA, who care about animal welfare. If you are talking about extremists though I reckon cruelty to animals would rate pretty high on that scale. I am sure the majority of farmers do care for their animals well but some are not as concerned with animal welfare as others. How any farmer can watch a pig confined to a stall unable is beyond comprehension. Part of the problem is mass production and maybe moving farms to smaller local markets is the way to go, such as the Polyface Farm setup run by Joel Salatin in America.

The best thing anyone can do to help animals is ethical purchases (as much as one can be sure of food provenance - I understand it is not an exact science or fulproof). Buy meat from the farm gate if you can or via farmer's market. I know this is difficult for some city dwellers but there are many good markets even in the city where growers and livestock farmers sell their products direct to the public.

Pelican, fact is that right now, vegan activists are swamping the social media and are using the RSPCA as part of their campaign to change the world. That means no livestock farming of any kind. They are also swamping politicians, in what is actually a very clever marketing campaign, full of spin and distortions. The true believers don't really notice, as their emotional buttons are pressed and no doubt, money is donated.

I have no problem with better conditions for pigs, barn laid and free range eggs, but they are about animal welfare, not animal liberation. That is no what is driving organisations like AA, which was cofounded by Peter Singer, the author of the well known "Animal Liberation"

The thing is, Ludwig's Escas system is in fact making a difference, despite the loss in sales etc. Of course its not perfect, no system is. There will always be cases where things go wrong, as was the case with the bull in the Israeli film. But that happens in Australia too. We have 60'000 cases of reported pet abuse a year and another 60'000 unwanted pets are put down by the RSPCA each year, so our noses are hardly clean.

At the moment the public are being swamped by propaganda, with Ludwig and the Labour politicians as the target. How many labour politicians even understand agriculture or the issues in WA, why we have a live trade etc, is pretty clear. They don't know. If the vegans get there way, there will be dead animals all over the country and it will be a sad state of affairs indeed.

Our noses are not clean that is for sure but this is not about who is worst. As for pets, without the RSPCA government resources would be further stretched.

I don't agree with live exports. There is no reason why meat cannot be processed here and exported. Naturally there will always be some live exports for breeding purposes but this is different to mass crowding beef cattle for consumption where conditions are less than satisfactory, distressing for the animal and causing injuries and death.

Vegans may wish to end livestock production altogether but that is another issue. Live exports is a subject of which many feel strongly about including many meat eaters. Vegans probably think that is hypocritical and they are welcome to their thoughts, but it is possible to eat meat and ensure meat is farmed and processed humanely.

Many people have agendas including farmers and beef exporters. This is no different to animal rights agendas and so far the beef exporters and farmers have held the stage. It does no harm to reconsider if what we are doing can be done better or not done at all depending on the evidence and cultural expectations. Economic considerations should not always override other important values.