End Australia's Live Animal Export

UPDATE 25 JULY 2011:

If you are in Australia, please don't miss the 'Ban Live Export National Rally' on Sunday 14 August 2011 being organised in every major city by Animals Australia and the RSPCA - for details see: http://www.banliveexport.com/rally/

The two Bills to Prohibit Live Exports are due to come before the Lower House of Australia's Federal Parliament for a vote on Thurs 18 August, so the success of this rally is critical.

By coincidence, on the morning of 18 August, Lawyers for Animals will be co-hosting their inaugural Animal Law Breakfast (vegan) in Melbourne - please feel free to come along if you can (invitation to be posted at http://lawyersforanimals.org.au/events/ shortly).

UPDATE 7 JULY 2011:

Yesterday, the Australian Government approved extreme animal cruelty, by lifting the suspension of live animal exports to Indonesia. It did so after ignoring all requests to urgently schedule a vote on the Bill to end live export. This Bill had already been read to the Lower House twice, and is now scheduled for a third reading and vote sometime after 16 August, when Parliament resumes sitting following a 5-week break.

Meanwhile, the Australian Government will grant live export licences where the licensee 'has in place arrangements to ensure that the consignment of live-stock exported [to Indonesia]... will be the subject of transport, handling, slaughter and related operations which are in accordance with relevant OIE recommendations.' In other words: the cruel slaughter of conscious cattle will continue. 

The OIE's Terrestrial Animal Health Code reads like Orwellian double-speak. [see Chapter 7: http://www.oie.int/en/international-standard-setting/terrestrial-code/access-online/?htmfile=chapitre_1.7.5.htm ]. It claims it will  'address the need to ensure the welfare of food animals during pre-slaughter and slaughter processes'. It then specifically permits the use of '[e]lectric goads and prods' to help move animals and the '[b]leeding out by severance of blood vessels in the neck without stunning'.

The Australian Government understands that cutting the throat of a conscious animal causes an extreme pain response, as pain receptors are triggered and terror ensues - for up to 2 minutes in cattle. But with support from Australia's major opposition parties (all but The Greens) it has decided this doesn't matter: not when there's a buck to be made...

Please sign this petition and if you are Australian, please also support Animals Australia's new email campaign, here:

http://www.animalsaustralia.org/take_action/live-export-conscience-vote

ORIGINAL TEXT 27 JUNE 2011:

As you read this:

* thousands of Australian sheep, cattle and goats are being packed, transported or unloaded from ships like the 'Al Kuwait' (pictured) en route to foreign slaughterhouses, markets and homes;
* thousands of goats are being crammed aboard planes destined for similar slaughter in South East Asia;
* thousands of cattle, sheep and goats are suffering pain, fear and desperate illness during transport, for instance in 2010: 1,192 cattle and 26,825 sheep died during export. In 2005: 94 goats died on a single flight from Queensland to Vietnam;
* Australian animals are being held, transported and slaughtered in countries without legal sanctions against cruelty - reflecting a lack of consciousness of animal welfare, and the form of treatment those animals will suffer, which is well documented by groups like Animals Australia; and
* like all fair-minded people, I trust you will want to act to help alleviate this unnecessary suffering.

Please do so by signing this Petition and forwarding it to others:

1. to ask Labor and the Coalition to grant their MPs a 'conscience vote' on the current Bill to end live export of animals for slaughter;
2. to encourage all MPs to vote to end the cruelty of live export; and
3. to tell our politicians that the slaughter of conscious animals is unacceptably cruel.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Which is the current Bill to end live export, immediately?
On 15 June 2011 the Live Animal Export (Slaughter) Prohibition Bill 2011 was introduced into the Senate by Greens' Spokesperson for Animal Welfare, Senator Rachel Siewert. On 20 June, an identical Bill was introduced into the Lower House by Greens' MP, Adam Bandt. If approved by a majority in both Houses, this Bill will amend the Export Control Act 1982 to immediately end the export of animals for slaughter. This is the Bill that this Petition primarily seeks to support. It does not preclude an ongoing campaign by animal groups, AusAid and the Australian public to encourage our Indonesian neighbours (and others) to raise their own animal welfare standards. It does mean Australia will no longer be complicit in cruelty, when our efforts to alleviate cruelty in foreign countries fail,  as they have, over many years.

The other Bill - which seeks to end live export in 3 years time
On 20 June, Independent MPs Andrew Wilkie and Nick Xenophon, introduced a Bill into the lower and upper houses of Federal Parliament (respectively). Their Live Animal Export Restriction and Prohibition Bill 2011 seeks to amend both the Export Control Act 1982 and the Australian Meat and Livestock Industry Act 1997 to end the export of animals for slaughter from 1 July 2014 and, in the interim, to cease export to all abattoirs where animals are not stunned before slaughter. While this Bill is a very positive step, and encourages improvement in Indonesian abattoirs, it does not seek to end all the suffering caused by live export until 2014.

What will happen if the Bill to end live export does not succeed?
On Tuesday 21 June 2011, while on a visit to Jakarta, Australia's Agriculture Minister, Joe Ludwig, issued a media release, stating that:
'... the Australian and Indonesian Governments had agreed to establish a set of mutual standards for the live animal export trade.
"I was fortunate to have the opportunity to not only meet with my Indonesian counterpart and other Ministers, but also to consult with them on a draft set of standards upon which I believe the future of our live export trade can be based... These standards will give practical effect to the current OIE international guidelines."

Minister Ludwig is referring to the Terrestrial Animal Health Code, which was prepared by The World Organisation for Animal Health - an intergovernmental organisation still known by its historical acronym 'OIE' ('Organisation International des Epizooties'). Chapter 7.5 of this Code describes 'acceptable' standards for the slaughter of animals. It makes for grim reading. Amongst a myriad cruelties it specifically allows the slaughter of conscious animals (without stunning).

So... if the Bill to end live export fails, while there could be minor improvement in the treatment meted out to Australian cattle in Indonesian abattoirs, chances are that this trade will simply resume with similar levels of cruelty. No legal sanctions exist against animal cruelty under Indonesian law. In response to the wave of outrage in Australia following the airing of 4Corners on 30 May, Indonesia's Parliamentary Agriculture Commission Deputy Chairman, Herman Khaeron, is quoted as saying: "(Australia) said (the slaughterhouses) were inhumane, but that's the way to kill (an animal). What other ways are there?" [http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/05/31/australia%E2%80%99s-ban-cattle-exports-ri-%E2%80%98political%E2%80%99.html]

Of course, if the Bill fails, the equally cruel live export trade from Australia to other countries will also continue, unabated.

Australia is a democracy, yet our politicians seem to listen more to wealthy and powerful lobby groups like Meat and Livestock Australia unless there is an enormous public outcry. In October 2010, a Galaxy opinion poll revealed that 79% of Australians believe live sheep exports are cruel. In addition, 86% agreed that the Government should phase out live sheep exports if there is an alternative that saves Australian jobs. But the politicians didn't hear us. They still don't hear us: the Government is now planning to resume export to abattoirs that slaughter conscious animals.

There are alternatives to live export, frozen meat export is one. On 1 June, The Jakarta Post reported that: 'last year Indonesia imported 120,000 tons of frozen meat and 600,000 live cows, mostly from Australia.' [http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/05/31/australia%E2%80%99s-ban-cattle-exports-ri-%E2%80%98political%E2%80%99.html] On 23 June 2011, The Australian Newspaper reported: 'It is understood the Indonesians have asked ... that frozen meat be limited to 30 per cent of the total imported.' [http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/indonesia-gives-ludwig-deadline-demands/story-e6frg6nf-1226080216981] Clearly, there is scope for frozen meat exports to replace live exports if Indonesia drops its objections to increased imports of frozen meat. The reasons for their objection are not clear, but seem to be based on fear that a larger frozen trade will somehow undermine its fledgling local cattle industry.

Very optional extra reading: my personal motivation
In Sept 2008, on behalf of Lawyers for Animals, I travelled from Melbourne to Perth to deliver a presentation on animal law and ethics to a Law Librarians conference. Having received a warm response from my hosts and audience, I was feeling cheerful as I caught the train to Fremantle to enjoy some sightseeing. But as my train approached the station, next to the Port of Fremantle, a dreadful stench permeated the carriage. As I disembarked, this terrible odour filled the air. I have never smelt anything so pungent nor so vile. Around me people were grasping clothing to their faces and hurrying away towards town in an effort to escape the foulness. In the midst of my confusion I heard someone say: 'it's the live export ship'. It was then that I knew why the stench was so overpowering: it was the smell of terror. With my camera, I made my way against the tide of people, towards the port, a few hundred metres away.

Seven months earlier, I'd read the decision of a WA Magistrate in the prosecution of Emanuel Exports Pty. Ltd. and its directors for cruelty to sheep transported on the Maritime Vessel (MV) Al Kuwait (unreported judgment of 8 February 2008 published here: http://www.liveexport-indefensible.com/downloads/Al_Kuwait_Reasons2.pdf). Many sheep had suffered grave illness and/or death aboard the MV Al Kuwait, and the Magistrate found that cruelty was proven. However, she dismissed the charges for technical reasons: a conflict between State cruelty laws and Federal live export laws. An appeal was lodged by State prosecutors who alleged an error of law in the decision, but this appeal was subsequently withdrawn, apparently under instructions from the Minister. The MV Al Kuwait continued to ply its foul trade.

When I reached the port, it was not difficult to locate the source of the stink. A live export ship seemed to be loading for a new voyage. Though it was some distance away, I could make out the shapes of animals aboard, and I could smell their fear. Using my zoom lens, I read the name of the vessel: 'Al Kuwait'. Suddenly, the whole horror of the live export trade became real for me, in a way I had never previously felt. I wanted so much to help those poor animals, whose fate I well knew, yet I was powerless to do so. Despite a flood of angry tears, I took photos of what I saw. If only I could convey that experience to other Australians with a similar sense of compassion...

One day, I trust all decent people will recognise the cruelty of confining, abusing and killing non-human animals that feel fear and pain - and experience the joy of life - as we do. As Jeremy Bentham wrote on animal rights in 1789: 'The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?"' I think it is in our self-interest to develop this wisdom, and to live without the burden of guilt that meat-eating humans bear. In the interim, I believe people with varying degrees of enlightenment should unite, to alleviate as much cruelty as possible. That means tackling the worst examples, first, and live export, I believe, is one of these.