A recent RSPCA poll put paid to any suggestion that concern about LE is limited to "city slickers".
The poll found almost seven out of every 10 Australians in rural areas and country towns want to end live exports, and more people in rural and country towns than anywhere else (just under 95 percent) are concerned over the inadequacy of current welfare standards. Australians are demanding change...with those from "the country" now leading the charge. In a democracy, this gives a clear mandate for change in live ex policy.
0 Comments
Clearly farmers are divided at the moment….there are those that have assessed the situation accurately and care enough about their sheep to stop trading into live export. Then there are those that keep repeating that all that matters is the dollar.
VALE has the science and we have it published. It is simply not possible to transport winter acclimatised Australian sheep to a northern ME summer without them getting heat stress. Period. Check any heat stress reference and check the weather in the Gulf. If there is only one sheep on any of these ships, it will suffer. Farmers wouldn't leave their Kelpie in the ute cab in the sun……and wouldnt set fire to their sheep paddock..... Its not OK to let animals cook to death on a boat either. A very big thank you to Colin Treasure and other courageous livestock producers who have spoken up for their animals after careful assessment of the situation. See Caulfield et. Heat stress: A major contributor to poor animal welfare associated with long-haul live export voyages. Published in the prestigious international journal, The Veterinary Journal. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090023313004462 It was a job for Australia's Chief Veterinary Officer....how did it fall to an industry vet?25/4/2018 When A Bloody Business showed up the problems with the MLA sanctioned Mark 1 box in Indonesia, they didn't get an MLA vet to review it, the CVO was called in.
When 60 Minutes showed up the problem with heat stress on live export ships, same should have happened...but it didnt...a shipboard veterinarian, Mike McCarthy was given the gig. And meanwhile, apparently welfare groups approved the appointment …..Which welfare groups? VALE doesn't know of any….. and apparently The Guardian couldn't track down any such groups either. See: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/23/live-exports-review-animal-welfare-groups-criticise-vets-appointment Well the day started with Maritime Executive discussing the boarding of the Maysora with LSS....including a claim that they had consented to inspectors boarding vessel.
By the end of the day, the text of the Mar Ex article had changed and the WA Govt had hit back angrily as reported in WA Today. "Consent was not granted," said WA Minister for Agriculture Alannah MacTiernan. Inspectors from the Department of Primary Industries had to secure a warrant to get on board. Ho hum ...and meanwhile the farmers are still claiming that it is fine for animals to have fouled water troughs and cramped condition....come on guys....that social licence is starting to wear a little thin now people have seen what it is really like onboard. As Calla Whalquist from The Guardian so correctly points out....33 years on....and conditions in ME that led to live have completely changed....but still we persist with the trade. Reason.....exporters make a lot of money from it. Farmers? Seemingly not much depending on which analysis is read.
Check out the article in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/21/33-years-on-a-long-term-solution-to-live-export-trade-remains-elusive John Flint from Perth Now definitely blows the industry apart this morning with his revelations. Conditions onboard The Maysora, (another ship, another exporter) found to be a disgrace...in Fremantle....whilst the industry is under its heaviest scrutiny. And apparently, no vet onboard.
This industry CANNOT be trusted EVER. Well for VALE, the day started with a call from the ABC to discuss ALEC's media release...which of course they hadnt bother to send us. That made for an ridiculous read...Spokesperson Sue Foster tore it apart on ABC Mornings (See http://www.vale.org.au/media.html 19th April).
Then as the day unfolded, Liberal MP Susan Ley revealed her plans to launch a private member's bill to end live export of sheep and Labor leader, Bill Shorten called for the immediate suspension of live sheep exports, while a review is undertaken into trade to the Middle East. Who knows what tomorrow will bring but well done all those who are seeing this industry for what it really is - even when standing up wont make them hugely popular in their own parties. So there we have it. Minister wrings his hands and looks all upset and says no farmer would want this for "their pride and joy"....but farmers, who now know exactly what the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock look like in practice are obviously happily supplying LSS with their pride and joy. Maysora loading....Bader due in tomorrow....
Just remember, the Bader lost over 3000 sheep in a day in Sept 2014... "In the Adelaide sheep consignment the mortality rate was 7.28% (3,256 mortalities of the 44,713 sheep loaded). In the Fremantle sheep consignment the mortality rate was 3.00% (923 mortalities of the 30,795 sheep loaded). Overall the voyage mortality rate was 5.53% (4,179 mortalities recorded out of 75,508 sheep loaded onto the vessel)." Govt Investigation Report 46 Oh yes and you wont find the report on the Dept website because they have carefully removed it ....but its on ours. The Awassi Express might be temporarily sidelined (thanks to AMSA) but the Maysora (LSS) certainly isnt (thanks to DAWR).
So....the sheep just roll into Freo to be loaded according to the evidently flawed ASEL...same old, same old...just a different exporter and different ship.... VALE is impressed that Minister Littleproud has initiated such a prompt veterinary review into live export of Australian livestock from an Australian winter to the Middle Eastern summer. The review is reportedly being undertaken by Dr Mike McCarthy, a veterinarian with numerous publications on the live export trade eg Pilot Monitoring of Shipboard Environmental Conditions and Animal Performance. This pilot study recommended a thorough collection of information on all livestock voyages...that was 2005 ....it never happened. We believe that Dr Mike McCarthy is well placed to do the review having an intimate knowledge of the industry and the research that has been performed on heat stress. However, we do have concerns about his independence given that he has been a career live export veterinarian: shipboard veterinarian and industry-funded research. It is notable that the pilot study recommended a heat stress panting score that only identified heat stress in cattle as occurring at a much higher respiratory rates than the world-accepted (and Australian feedlot industry published) panting scores - acknowledged in the document. It is easy to disappear to heat stress on routine voyages if you change the definitions!! This was 2005 and the world has moved on....and no doubt Mike McCarthy would now use all the later scientific information available on heat stress to assess the current situation (rather than relying on live ex industry participants who didnt believe a cow was panting till its respiratory rate exceeded 80 breaths per minute (<40 is normal). VALE has offered Minister Littleproud help with the analysis. Our review paper on heat stress (why re-invent the wheel?) was actually published in a peer-reviewed, high citation index veterinary journal! |
Archives
June 2024
Categories |