AUSTRALIAN Livestock Exporters Council chief executive officer Alison Penfold says video footage of cattle being repeatedly sledgehammered in abattoirs in Vietnam depict some of the most graphic animal cruelty she has ever seen.
“This is slaughter at it cruelest and most sickening,” Ms Penfold wrote on her Facebook page.
The disturbing video was provided by Animals Australia to the Department of Agriculture last week. The video was shown by the ABC's 7.30 Report last night (Thursday). ALEC chairman Simon Crean was interviewed by the program.
The video images collected by Animals Australia show disturbing animal cruelty and other breaches of the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) at abattoirs and other facilities in Vietnam.
The incidents captured on video have already resulted in Vietnam’s Haiphong feedlot as well as abattoirs in the Bai Do region being banned from receiving Australian livestock.
The video footage was only viewed by industry yesterday, despite repeated requests for the release of the material to assist in dealing with animal welfare issues.
“The practices shown in the footage include the sledgehammering to death of what is believed to be Australian cattle from the markings and behaviour, several of being slammed repeatedly until they drop to the floor,” Ms Penfold writes.
“I found the video hard to watch and you may too. I leave it to your own judgement as to whether you wish to watch it or not.
“The footage I saw yesterday also includes several abattoirs using poor handling and slaughter practices.
“One such video includes an animal stunned (penetrative bolt) and then a pipe inserted into the body to collect blood. The animal has a stunned look in its eye (an indicator of death) but there is no corneal reflex check by the abattoir workers and the animal is showing signs of rythmic breathing. This is confronting and not a practice you will have seen or necessarily want to see again even if the animal is dead.”
Ms Penfold said she the brutality would upset livestock producers, who cared greatly about the welfare of their animals.
“I know you care about your animals and seeing this brutality will be upsetting,” she writes. “The fact that we have failed to find this ourselves is bad enough and I feel, personally, given my long association with many of you on this page and the stories and information I have shared about the work being undertaken by exporters in Vietnam, that I have let you down. That work has made change but clearly not fixed all the problems.
“Nothing can take away the fact that if an individual exporter, feedlot or facility, even the transport process in between has let to this brutality then the consequence must be harsh and it must swift. Our ability to respond has already been frustrated by weeks of delay in bringing this information public.
“In the face of the trade being shown at its worst, a lot will be said about our performance and our failures. Our responsibility is clear and the consequences direct.
“I will continue to communicate with you as I have tried to do over the past four years as we acknowledge, respond and address the issues and comments made.”
