Animal activists have organised a mass public rally to be held on Saturday, August 24 at 1.00p.m. on Parliament Lawns in Hobart. Rally organiser Suzanne Cass, from Stop Tasmanian Animal Cruelty, believes it will be the biggest rally Hobart has seen.
‘The aim is to make sure people are aware of the positions of the political candidates and parties on the systemically cruel live export trade’. Ms Cass said. ‘We are responding to a recent poll which found that, for 86% of respondents, the issue of live exports is a vote changer. People have seen the horrific torture of animals sent to these foreign hellholes just to be slaughtered, and 86% have said “enough”; we are deeply, deeply ashamed of Australia’s part in this terrible animal abuse’.
Speaking at the rally are inspirational philanthropist and animal defender Philip Wollen OAM, who is flying in from Melbourne, Independent member for Denison Andrew Wilkie, former live export veterinarian and co-founder of Vets Against Live Export, Dr (Captain) Peter Kerkenezov, and Greens number 2 Senate candidate Helen Burnett. Dr Kerkenezov is flying in from NSW for the rally.
‘We find it incredible that an industry that accounts for just 0.3% of Australia’s exports, and which has cost so many jobs in Australia, seems to have such incredible influence in politics’, continued Ms Cass. ‘And that’s before we even start on the wretched misery, suffering and torture of millions of animals sent on third world ships on gruelling voyages that can be 6 weeks long, only to be handed over for brutal handling and slaughter in these countries which have no laws – or will – to protect them.
‘Animals Australia’s 20 investigations, in almost every country to which Australia sends live animals, have proved that the cruelty in this trade is both egregious and systemic, and the Australian government’s attempt at regulation has been a dismal failure. The only countries that haven’t been exposed in those investigations are the ones that haven’t yet been caught. The really sad aspect of this is that every country to which Australia exports live animals imports large quantities of frozen meat from Australia as well – worth more than four times than the trade in live animals is worth – so there can never again be any excuse for this atrocity.
‘The principal objective of Saturday’s rally is to send a powerful message to every political hopeful contesting the coming election that by supporting this rotten to the core trade, they will lose votes that they cannot afford. They will ignore us at their peril. Our rally will be followed by one in Adelaide the following Saturday, and between the two, thousands of people will find out what our political parties are really like. It’s an indication generally of their moral compass, and both the Government and the Opposition, as well as many minor parties, are found sadly wanting in this’, Ms Cass concluded.
WHERE: Parliament Lawns, Hobart
WHEN: 1.00 p.m. Saturday, August 24, 2013
