End Live Exports

February 19, 2006

Every 2 minutes a sheep dies in transit. Cattle, too, are transported under horrific conditions. Your support is needed to end this shameful and barbaric practise by Australia!

These animals, raised by Australian farmers, are transported long distances within Australia to holding yards or feedlots. From there, they are taken and loaded onto enormous ships with as many as 60,000 animals on one vessel. The journey from the farm to slaughter can take up to three months.

The live animal export trade is inherently cruel, subjecting the animals involved to exhaustion, hunger, thirst, excessive heat and/or high levels of stress. Tens of thousands of Australian animals die every year on these journeys, while countless more suffer as a result of these conditions.

We are regularly told that live exports are necessary to satisfy traditional religious customs of the Middle East. Yet overseas markets which currently accept livestock from Australia WILL accept chilled meat that has been slaughtered in Australia according to their religious and cultural requirements. Currently there are 123 Halal-certified abattoirs in Australia that could slaughter livestock to meet these requirements.

In addition, while Australian communities in rural and regional areas struggle to recover from what is arguably the worst drought of the past century, the Australian government continues to send jobs overseas. While a lack of work is causing abattoirs throughout Australia to close down
Australian livestock continue to be exported for slaughter abroad. Exported livestock could instead be humanely slaughtered in Australian abattoirs, creating jobs and building stronger, more resilient economies in rural and regional communities and most importantly saving animals from intense suffering.

The live animal export trade must end. We call for the abolition of the live export trade, to be replaced with an expanded, and more humane, chilled meat trade.

OR BETTER STILL - BECOME A VEGETARIAN!

Mr Howard please note in the next Federal election - that Australians will not tolerate a Prime Minister who tolerates live animal export.