The recent death of four year-old, Ayen Chol from a pit bull attack has again prompted calls to ban the breed. But instead of focusing on a particular breed, or responding to single events as they occur…
On Thursday August 18, two bills were introduced in the Australian House of Representatives. One was the “Live Animal Export Restriction and Prohibition Bill 2011”, introduced by Independent Member for…
Kangaroo populations are robust and abundant.
Wombalano/Flickr
The Scottish eat their deer and the South Africans their springbok. Australia’s national icon is gentle on the environment, doesn’t emit methane, is good to eat and could be a great source of income for…
Welfare standards adopted as part of the ban being lifted fall short of public expectations.
AAP
When it comes to the live animal export industry, the government’s knee-jerk reactions leave it open to criticism that it dances to whichever group, industry or the animal activists, plays the loudest…
Australians don’t know enough about Indonesia to judge its farming practices.
AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka
We need to learn more about the countries we are exporting livestock to, or swapping refugees with. Two recent publicly-funded television documentaries have revealed just how little most Australians know…
So-called “humane” industry slaughter practices need to be investigated more carefully.
AAP
One of the more welcome results from the furore around Australia’s involvement in live animal exports is that some Australians appear to have started rethinking their food choices. Last month, The Age…
For only the second time in history, scientists have eliminated a disease from the face of the Earth, saving billions of dollars and boosting food security in the process. Rinderpest, a deadly cattle disease…
Ritual slaughter is an important part of Islamic and Jewish belief systems but, as recent TV footage showing cattle being butchered in Indonesian abattoirs demonstrated, there is great variation across…
20% of people who saw the footage of animal abuse thought it was too graphic.
AFP/Ho/ABC/Four Corners
The decision by Animals Australia/RSPCA to allow their footage of slaughter of cattle and sheep overseas raises interesting questions about how animal welfare should be managed in this country. Was it…
Can trade regulation enhance – or block – improvements to animal welfare?
AAP
The suspension of live cattle exports to Indonesia will also have significant implications on Australian cattle farmers, Australian and Indonesian domestic markets, and on the trade relationship between…
Can trade regulation enhance - or block - improvements to animal welfare?
AAP
The suspension of live cattle exports to Indonesia will also have significant implications on Australian cattle farmers, Australian and Indonesian domestic markets, and on the trade relationship between…
Livestock may also face mistreatment without leaving Australian shores.
AAP
Throughout the heated debate around live animal exports over the past week, there has been an implicit assumption that the mistreatment of Australian cattle only ever begins after the animals have left…
It may be “humane”, but is it ethical?
Virginia Zuluaga/Flickr
Does a painless death harm an animal? Is it wrong to painlessly kill an animal? These questions go to heart of the ethics of meat eating and humane slaughter, yet they have been largely absent in most…
Before blaming Indonesia, we must reform the way we fund livestock industry research.
AFP Photo/SUTANTA
Now that the Federal Government has finally succumbed to public pressure and suspended live cattle exports to Indonesia, it is worth considering why we were so caught off guard by the shocking revelations…
Indonesian abattoirs should agree to stun cows before they’re slaughtered.
AAP
The Federal Government’s move to ban live cattle exports to a handful of Indonesian abattoirs will not, in the long term, end the inhumane slaughtering practices revealed in Monday’s Four Corners report…
The trip to Indonesia is just the start of a horrifying journey for cattle.
AAP
Last night, the ABC’s Four Corners brought the horror of the Indonesian slaughterhouse into Australian living rooms. The government’s response to images of cattle being hacked to death, having their tails…
On the opening day of the Warrnambool jumps carnival in western Victoria this year, five-year-old horse Casa Boy died when he fell at his first hurdle. Just one month later, Shine the Armour also died…
The legal system says that no one lives in Australia’s vegetation.
John Hadley
The destruction or modification of habitat is the leading cause of biodiversity loss in Australia and around the world. Letting animals have rights over their habitat could be the answer. Despite 40 years…
Professor, Management and Organizational Studies, Huron University College and Coordinator of Animal Ethics and Sustainability Leadership, Western University