Since Animals Australia and RSPCA led the expose on the Indonesian Beef Slaughter Industry there has been a torrent of support on a Ban of the Australian Live Export Trade with that Country and the Middle East, which has been similarly exposed in the past for a poor animal welfare record.
It is impossible not to be horrified by the footage of the cruelty performed against the animals. As an Animal Advocate and one of Australia's first Sheep Farmers's to be Accredited by the Humane Society International, I am too well aware of the needs of domestic animals in a world where they are farmed for consumption. Whilst an animal may well be raised for food it does not mean that animal is open for abuse. There are many reasons for this with the welfare of the animal being number one there are many benefits to it as a food source by treating it humanely over the entirety of its life and giving it a quick and humane slaughter.
However a call for the ban on live export of Australian Sheep and Cattle is one that will do nothing to improve conditions in these countries that do not share Australia's high standards of animal welfare. It is akin to shutting the door on a crime and pretending that it is not happening by looking the other way. Australia is not able to control how other nations run their own countries but we can influence them with open dialogue and funding as we currently do with Indonesia on the eradication of Muslim Fundamentalism in the Indonesian Schools Programme. There are many reasons that Indonesian and other nations have a very different outlook on animal welfare and an influence by way of education and funding better practices has shown to raise these standards.
By taking away the cost element to Indonesian Abattoirs we can influence their take up of best practice and educating their staff on improved techniques and animal husbandry would improve the treatment of livestock. Similarly advocating on behalf of Australian producers by way of advertising and educating the end consumer on the benefits of humanely treated animals for consumption. Australians have learnt themselves over recent years of the improved eating quality of meat if the animal is kept and slaughtered in humane conditions, this has been a slow process but a very effective one.
As we live in a world of free market economies driven by supply and demand there is no question that the $730 million Australia receives from its Live Export Trade will be filled by other competing nations with a much reduced interest in the welfare of their animals. So whilst yes we would be inhibiting the exposure of Australian Livestock to inhumane practices they would continue from different sources. For me personally a beast is a beast regardless of its nation of birth and it is up to Animal Advocates world over to improve the lot of livestock, removing Australia from this market would in my opinion be extremely detremental to the welfare of animals in Indonesia and elsewhere.
Many in Australia including the RSPCA National President believe that the solution is to stop live export and slaughter all animals here, whilst I was one to totally agree with that position a few years ago the reality is much more complex than that simple line. Not all that long ago most Australian farms had a meat house where they would slaughter and hang their own meat and it was a government stipulated condition that staff recieved meat as part of their conditions of employment. However like the removal of water tanks in urban areas Governments in the interest of public health have since banned on farm abattoirs and the greater government regulation and union control has decimated the number of abattoirs across Australia. My local small Abattoir and the largest in the region closed just last year as have so many small town abattoirs which is putting greater stress on animals by having to have them transported greater distances for slaughter.
The problem of local abattoir closures has been alleviated by the live export trade. The eagerness of Australian producers to be involved in the live export trade is a result of the increased government regulation and Union action in Australian Abattoirs forcing their closure to to poor profitability. It is seemingly the common record of governments in Australia to over regulate and therfore kill an industry in Australia only to export it overseas where it is completely under regulated..this is true for so many of our once strong and sustainable sectors.
What can only be the outcome on this issue is a the continued decline of Australian Family Farmers and Small Business in the food industry, with the higher regulation and smaller profits squezing out those unable to sustain themselves during lean times. This can be seen in the fishing, timber, dairy, wheat, wool and now beef industries. With the closure of abbittoirs across Australia and possible banning of live export the local market would be swamped with livestock and prices slump further. This will result in further pain for graziers and increase departures from the industry of families. Also the vacumm left in Indonesia will be filled by countries much further away who have less interest in animal welfare. Increase the pain and suffering of livestock in that country.
What is needed is an Australian Government Initiative like the Indonesian Schools Programme which not only educates Abattoir and Feedlot staff but the wider community in the benefits of well cared for and humanely slaughtered animals, not the 'close the door and close our eyes' approach advocated by Animals Australia and the RSPCA, which will only perpetuate the pain of animals in Indonesia.