Noby the beagle, face of the anti-puppy farm campaign. Photo: Noah Hannibal
Miss Eagle has been most unwell over the last week - and spent most of the day in hospital yesterday. Otherwise at the very minute she is doing this post she would be protesting against puppy farms on the steps of Parliament House, Spring Street, Melbourne.
Networkers, it is one thing to declare oneself an animal lover - but so often all we are really saying is that we have a love of the cute.
We have to get past cute. We have to understand the other species - domestic,industrial and wild - who populate our planet and companion our lives. In the end, we have to be politically alert, and animal active in organisations that care AND do something. We have to push for safeguards and the elimination of cruelty and exploitation through the law of the land.
Puppy factories are just one part of the story, one element of the cruelty and exploitation. Go to the industrial animals and you will find that agricultural industry organisations are able to lobby governments effectively to get up their so called industry standards which are just a lowest common denominator piece of paper translated into legislation. When a farmer is charged with cruelty, the farmer can legitimately claim as a defence that industry standards are met. What a joke! What a lack of objectivity to protect animals!
For instance, Australians are used to thinking of their cattle being stunned before being killed for the meat for their tables. It may be news to you, Networkers, that the Victorian Government has approved so-called export-only halal meatworks which do not stun cattle humanely before death. They are exempt under this deal because they are exporting to Muslim countries.
In 2003, an independent advisory group - the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) - concluded that the way halal and kosher meat is produced causes severe suffering to animals and should be banned immediately. FAWC argued that cattle required up to two minutes to bleed to death when such means are employed. The Chairperson of FAWC at the time, Judy MacArthur Clark, added, "this is a major incision into the animal and to say that it doesn't suffer is quite ridiculous."
Animals Australia has campaigned vigorously against the inhuman practice of religious slaughter. It has formed a strong link with Princess Alia bint al-Hussein of Jordan. The Princess points out that Australia is one of the few countries in the world to consistently treat animals humanely in the slaughtering process. However, she points out that Australia is lowering its standards.
Australia in this day and age has an eye on the dollar, irrespective. It has always had a submissive attitude to other countries - and it looks to appease the Muslim vote for the ballot box at home. This is particularly so when it comes to the Australian Labor Party who have seats in heavily populated Muslim areas of Melbourne and Sydney. Why let animal cruelty get in the way of a vote or three?
Postscript:
Hundreds rally against puppy farms
Postscript:
Hundreds rally against puppy farms
Dreadful photo of that Beagle bitch.
ReplyDeleteAs for Halal slaughtering practices, I am not familiar with the rules.
Is it significantly different from Kosher practices?
Sadly, the more one learns, the less one wishes to find out.
Denis
Denis, I am not an expert but I think both Halal and Kosher slaughtering methods rely on a supposedly quick slit of the throat.
ReplyDeleteI recall listening to a description by an Australian Muslim of halal once on the radio. It sounded quite good. And the kosher method sounds good too. Both sound humane. But their methods have been humane in their context millenia ago. We can do better. And Australia does have its own slaughtering tradition which is humane. There is no saying that we won't be able to improve on our own system - but it exceeds halal and kosher systems.
Our Australian tradition is that we believe the animals still feel pain and do suffer. Our method of stunning before the death deed is meant to obviate suffering. Australians do not stand up for their formerly high standards.
It seems, to put a biblical perspective on it, we are prepared to sell our heritage for a mess of pottage (or a sackful of dollars!).
I should add that there is increasing interest from lawyers in the animal rights field. There have been too few before. Victoria has a very good and experienced barrister. It is from him that I got the information on the "industry standards" defence. Animals Australia has had a very good barrister come on board and had some success in a case in WA. Voiceless, another major voice for animals, has just lost its very bright corporate lawyer as she heads for international fields. So they are looking for a hot shot lawyer to help them get some runs on the board.
The legal way, as you realise, is not easy but it is the only way to get things sorted. (PILCH - Public Interest Law Clearing House) in NSW and Victoria actually have an animal law section under the heading of PALS @ PILCH.
PALS is a pro bono animal law service.