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The Israel State Comptroller has found that their Agriculture Ministry fails to investigate problems or punish ship owners or importers who repeatedly break the rules.
Ships are often in poor condition, suffering from insufficient ventilation, high temperatures and humidity; animals are forced to live in their own excrement; wet bedding is not changed often enough; food and water is often lacking; and the air is thick with the smell of ammonia from urine which causes the animals breathing difficulties and sore eyes. Yet next to nothing is done to ensure that complaints are followed up, conditions improve and regulations are adhered to, the report says. And..... last year, a third of imported cattle and 16% of sheep came from Australia. A presentation from a Ministry vet at a closed workshop last year showed that the Ministry are well aware of the problems. One vet at a port testified that complaints sent to the ministry’s Central Unit for Enforcement and Investigations “got nowhere” and that investigators only turned up when they “had time.” Sound familiar? Yeah it so could be the Australian Department of Ag.
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Basically it comes down to the fact that the Dept doesnt give a damn about their projected wet bulb temperatures and its all about trade....and "not rocking the boat".
See reasons below If this ship is allowed sail into the ME summer, VALE demands that the Dept of Ag places an independent observer on this ship with the IO report to be made available to the public within 4 weeks of voyage completion. In addition representative CCTV footage of sheep from all decks taken at the Equator and the Straits of Hormuz must be made available to the Australian public.
See letter from VALE to Dept Secretary here. KLTT may not get away with live export and its animal welfare issues in South Africa but ....its export at all costs in Australia.
Breaking news is that RETWA has been granted an exemption to the summer moratorium in their "special purpose vessel". Oh yeah, and earlier this year, they they were allowed exemptions to sail their non-purpose built ancient two tiered ship as well. No science, no animal welfare, no public concern is ever going to stop this industry. The Australian Govt wants it to happen so badly.....and for what? We dont know....but sure as all hell, while businesses go bust with Covid around the country, the one untouchable was always going to be KLTT and RETWA. See Reasons for moratorium exemption here See Exemption for Al Shuwaikh here: enjoy the pages of redactions! Sheep Central reports that Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council chairman David Galvin has complained to Agriculture Minister David Littleproud because he considered “third party submissions by known opponents to our industry”.
Galvin is disappointed that the submissions were considered when the Department of Agriculture decided not to allow the industry to breach the winter moratorium preventing the shipment of sheep to the Middle East in June. Funnily enough...the government is elected by the Australian public and is answerable to the Australian public - it's called democracy not “third party” interference. VALE commends the Department for adhering to its moratorium despite industry pressure. In doing so, it has proved its willingness to objectively assess science, and animal welfare and to consider the ethical expectations of the Australian public. NSPCA posted the following overnight: "VICTORY! VICTORY! VICTORY!
The NSPCA had applied to the High Court and the matter had been set down for 16 July 2020. However, after the Australian moratorium was upheld and the Al Messilah wasnt allowed to pick up the Al Kuwait sheep from Fremantle, KLTT headed off to South Africa. With the arrival of the ship there, the NSPCA applied for an urgent interdict. The NSPCA won their urgent High Court application with costs - the Al Messilah cannot load!. No sheep will be loaded onto any of Al Mawashi's sheep ships until the matter has been heard on 16 July 2020. NOTE: Al Mawashi is synonymous with KLTT. VALE strongly commends the Dept for upholding the science- and animal welfare- based Moratorium on shipments of sheep travelling to the Middle East in the northern summer months (see DAWE media release below).
This was a test case with a Covid outbreak delaying the departure of the Al Kuwait from Fremantle. There was strong pressure on the Govt by the public, advocacy groups and veterinary associations (including the AVA) to uphold science, voyage analysis and animal welfare. However, live ex is a powerful industry and the Govt had a bruising day yesterday with the Court ruling that a former Minister of Ag had acted with misfeasance in suspending the northern cattle trade to Indonesia in 2011 after A Bloody Business in a response to animal welfare abuse in Indonesia. The decision to uphold the moratorium is even more remarkable in that light. Media release Live export exemption not granted The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment has made the decision to not grant Rural Export and Trading (WA) Pty Ltd an exemption to export livestock after 1 June. The livestock vessel Al Kuwait was unable to depart prior to June 1 as planned, following confirmed cases of COVID-19 among crew members. The exporter submitted an application to the department for exemption from the June 1 export deadline under the Australian Meat and Live‑stock Industry (Prohibition of Export of Sheep by Sea to Middle East—Northern Summer) Order 2020, including an Animal Welfare Management Plan. Following consideration of all relevant matters under the legislation, including animal welfare and trade implications, the department has taken the decision not to grant an exemption to the exporter. The livestock that was to be exported in this consignment remain at registered premises and the department is satisfied there are no welfare concerns. A detailed statement of reasons for this decision will be released later this week. Guess the "independent" regulator, the non-independent Dept of Ag is about to approve June shipment??
It's been 9 years since over 100,000 Australians signed a petition to end the live export of cattle to Indonesia after the airing of the ABC's Four Corners program “A Bloody Business.”
The program resulted in around 60,000 media articles spotlighting Australia's live export industry. Instead of a ban, the government's five-week suspension of the trade saw the establishment of ESCAS as a way forward to reduce the end-destination cruelty shown on the program. The live export trade was well aware before the Four Corners program that inhumane slaughter practices were routine in Indonesia. And the fact that representatives from Animals Australia, and Four Corners could easily gain entry into the abattoirs to get the footage indicated the Indonesians also felt there was nothing to hide. The farmers took the Govt to court over the 5 week trade suspension (nothing compared to what businesses have suffered in Covid!). The outcome will be announced tomorrow but if logic prevailed, they should have taken the government (not to mention MLA and the live exporters) to task for turning a blind eye to what was going on, not for suspending the trade once they were caught out. It's still a “bloody business”. Animals Australia recently provided footage of the slaughter of Australian cattle in the basement carpark of an Indonesian mosque in August 2019. The video showed tail pulling, hitting, kicking, ear pulling and leg roping. Three of 20 cattle involved suffered 7, 14 and 20 knife strikes before finally succumbing to death (ESCAS report 172). The reality is that these types of incidents aren't isolated, and they aren't limited to Indonesia. There have now been over 170 ESCAS non-compliance cases investigated by the government with Animals Australia still the major independent unpaid "auditor". ESCAS is never going to work well enough to provide acceptable animal welfare outcomes in countries with meagre, if any, animal welfare concerns. |
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