The day Australia failed the test of the most basic common decency …

Picture from www.banliveexports.com

Yesterday, December 13 2013, The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) granted a permit for 80,000 Australian sheep to be loaded on the Livestock Shipping Services (LSS) ship Maysora in Fremantle, bound for Qatar. This occurred despite multiple protests registered with DAFF itself, and protests on the ground in Fremantle, in the wake of sickening, horrific abuse of cattle exported to the Gaza strip by LSS in October being exposed this week. LSS is the subject of multiple other complaints currently before DAFF in respect of shocking and harrowing abuse of both sheep and cattle, in Jordan, Israel and elsewhere, and it is beyond belief – and common decency – that DAFF would issue a permit for even more animals to be exported by this Jordanian-owned company.

The Australian bulls in Gaza, like those also shown in Mauritius and elsewhere, were beaten, stabbed, chased by jeering crowds, eyes were stabbed, and one was cut 102 times before he died. One was ‘knee-capped’, his legs shot from under him with an assault rifle. They were dragged off trucks, landing heavily on their heads and shoulders, their legs were dragged out from under them, and they were left hanging by almost severed heads as their bodies collapsed beneath them, all before jeering, cheering mobs, including children, who continued to torment the already terrified, traumatised animals.

You can see almost seven minutes of the video footage here, but a warning. If we thought Indonesia, Mauritius and Egypt were horrific, this is far worse.

http://www.animalsaustralia-media.org/upload/photos/gaza-strip-2013/

The LSS operated Maysora is in Fremantle to load sheep for Qatar, and it is understoof that DAFF issued the permit because Qatar is not the subject of a current investigation. However in September 2012, the horrific fate of dairy cattle exported to Qatar was the subject of a complaint and investigation when thousands of the cattle and also sheep suffered horrific conditions of thirst, starvation and neglect in that country. But dairy and breeder cattle and sheep are the forgotten animals of this industry because they are not covered by the live export regulations (ESCAS), and DAFF dismissed the complaint.

And nor can that be said for Jordanian owned Livestock Shipping Services, which is currently the subject of this and several other investigations. It is negligence, and a gross dereliction of duty, for DAFF, the regulator of ESCAS, to have issued a permit to LSS to export a single animal from Australia, and sends yet again the clear message that no matter how critical the violation of the rules, or how obscene and hideous the cruelty to which our animals are subjected, nothing happens to the exporter. It is DAFF’s duty under ESCAS to ensure that animals exported under permits it issues are treated in accordance with OIE standards (as minimal as those are), and LSS has proved time and time again that it will not comply with the terms and conditions of those permits. it’s just business as usual for even repeat offenders such as LSS.

In October this year, atrocities against sheep in Jordan exported by LSS were exposed. Thousands of Australian sheep were fund outside ‘approved supply chains’ being brutally tortured nefore their throats wee hacked at during vicious slaughter in filthy streets and backyards, once again being tormented by children kicking them, throwing stones at them and sitting on them as they lay in their agonising death throes.

LSS is also the subject of an investigation into the deaths of 49 dairy cattle on an aircraft from Melbourne, bound for Kazakhstan in October this year.

The cattle were crammed on the aircraft in two tiers of crates, and those on the upper level suffocated on ammonia fumes. Despite a refuelling stop in Singapore, the cattle were not checked throughout the 17 hour journey and received no food or water.

DAFF currently has 26 investigations listed at its ESCAS investigations web page dating back as far as January 2013, and it has completed just seven. Typically, it takes 8-12 months for it to complete an ‘investigation’, which appears to usually take the form of a ‘destop audit’. By taking so long, DAFF clearly believes that concerned poeople will forget, and ‘go away’. Film footage is ‘reviewed’, statements from exporters considered, and DAFF has never yet imposed a penalty of any significance or meaning against a single exporter.

Last weekend, this photograph was made public on the website of an Israeli animal protection group, describing ‘routine’ unloading practices in the port of Eilat in Israel, to where LSS is the primary exporter of cattle.

The picture was reported as having been taken during the unloading of the Livestock Shipping Services vessel the Pearl of Para last weekend (December 8th) and we have confirmed that the Pearl of Para was indeed in Eilat unloading cattle from Australia last weekend. The Pearl of Para is noted for the suffocation deaths of hundreds of dairy cattle in 2012 on a voyage from the US to Russia, and for breaking down for almost 2 weeks off the coast of Western Australia with 5,240 cattle on board destined for Israel. In Eilat, this method of unloading (trussing the cattle’s legs together and tying them to the blades of a forklift) is described as ‘routine’ for ‘downer’ and ‘rogue’ cattle. The so-called ‘rogue’ cattle – and those who can no longer stand or walk, are allegedly ‘sedated’ – we would guess by a blow to the head. And the Pearl of Para is currently on its way back to Fremantle, according to ship tracking sources.

Earlier complaints against Israel have been filed with DAFF, one showing sheep being thrown, kicked and beaten off two live export ships, one the LSS ship the Bader III, and the other Wellards’ Ocean Drover. A further complaint of torture in Israel slaughterhouses was dismissed by DAFF because the animals were shipped a few days before ESCAS applied in that country. One hapless ‘downer’ Australian bull cried out with pain and fear as he was tortured with an electric shock device in his eyes, face, anus and genitals for over an hour to try and force him to his feet for slaughter.

If DAFF is guilty of a gross derelection of duty in its role of protecting Australian animals from this harrowing, shocking torture in overseas countries, by issuing LSS with yet another permit to export more animals to this appalling cruelty, the Minister for Agriculture is even more so. Barnaby Joyce has not had a word to say about this egregious violation of the rules in Gaza, and has yet to appear in public. The Australian community is once again sickened, shocked, distressed and horrified yet the Minister and the media have remained silent. Joyce has blocked all animal advocates and photographs of all this evidence from his Facebook page, and indeed has shut one of his pages down. Other coalition MPs have done the same, even blocking their constituents – the people who have put them into the positions of power they hold. Perhaps Mr Joyce is enjoying more holidays at taxpayers’ expense.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott continues with his vociferous support of this shameful industry, even going as far to apologise ‘for Australians’ for the all too short 5 weeks suspension of cattle exports to Indonesia two and a half years ago, and Australians were outraged.

Opposition Agriculture spojesman Joel Fiztibbon referred to the Gaza atrocity as an ’indiscretion’, but did go so far as to recommend that delinquent exporters should have to ‘show cause;’ why they should be issued a permit for export. He claimed that the Australian people needed to have ‘confidence’ in this industry, and the Australian people – hundreds of thousands of decent, hardworking people absolutely deplore this awful shame upon our collective conscience.

The man who should be Prime Minister, Andrew Wilkie, has once again stepped up, declaring war upon this shocking trade, proving why he is one of our most respected politicians (not that there are many). And once again, decent Australians have banded together to take whatever measures we can to bring down this atrocity once and for all. In the wake of all these sxandals in recent weeks, we believe the time for a phase-out’ has long past, regardless of its impact on the small number of people that will affect. Our animals cannot and will not be protected agaunst this egrehious abuse and the time has also long since passed for an outright ban, once and for all. Our animals must no longer be shippoed on old third world rustbuckets for weeks on end, and handed over to savages. Live exports account for just 0.3% of Australian exports, and it is extraordinary that this noisy minority of farmers, who care nothing about these aninals, should have such a power in our Parliament. This trade begins and ends with them, because it is they who supply the animals. Exports of frozen meat to all these countries are worth over six times more than the trade in live animals.

No more words … perhaps the tears of this tortured bull in Mauritius say it all …

BAN LIVE EXPORTS!

• Professor Barry Spurr, in Comments: No matter what animal welfare provisions are put in place at this end, all the evidence has shown that there can be no guarantee that these provisions will be observed at the point of arrival. We are not talking here about lifeless commodities of trade, but sentient beings, who experience fear and pain. What kind of moral and ethical society are we living in where we allow this cruelty – all fully documented – to continue? Australians are supposedly deeply committed to a ‘fair go’. What fair go do these animals have? What right do we have to send them to this appalling ending of their lives in order to turn a buck? The live export trade is Australia’s shame and so long as it continues the nation has no claim to moral worthiness.

• Christmas Compassion & Cruelty-free Christmas Picnic

21 December
Parliament Lawns, Salamanca

Shoppers around Salamanca today will be asked to think about sharing some compassion this Christmas, and making compassion their New Year’s resolution. Vegetarian Tasmania and Against Animal Cruelty Tasmania (AACT) are hosting this event to higlight the need for true compassion at Christmas. This will be combined with a Cruelty-free Christmas Picnic lunch to showcase a range of plant-based tasty treats.

“We are asking people today to consider what they are feeding their family and friends this Christmas.” said Karen Bevis of Vegetarian Tasmania, “It is up to consumers to make compassionate choices, and choosing plant foods for Christmas is the most compassionate choice they can make. The benefits are better health for humans and nonhumans, and better heatlh for the earth.”

With ever-increasing Christmas gluttony, it is the nonhuman animals that suffer. There is no such thing as ‘humane’ meat. Many animals destined for the dinner table live a miserable life, and all suffer a violent and premature death. A simple change to a diet free of animal products provides many benefits, and avoids the abuse and exploitation.

“We are showing today that by adopting a plant-based diet, people can still have a satisfying festive food experience, without supporting the violence and exploitation inherent in animal agriculture.” said Chris Simcox of AACT, “We ask people to make a New Year’s resolution to switch their diet to one that is compassionate, healthy and kinder to the planet.”

Christmas Compassion and Cruelty-free Picnic from: 12pm

Janet and Alan from Running Raw Around Australia ( http://www.runningrawaroundaustralia.com/ ) will be joining us at the end of their Hobart marathon.