No one with any heart can view images of cattle; sheep or
pigs stuck in the bowels of transport ships for weeks and not be moved to
tears. Or watch some of the practices in slaughterhouses overseas and not feel revolted. I feel exactly the same about
animals stuck in feed lots on our shores. Pigs confined to pig stalls where
they can’t move and most can barely stand-up. They never see the sun on their
faces and they live a life of misery until they are transported to
slaughterhouses to face even more terror.
Let’s not forget about chickens and battery farms. Once again, live creatures
subjected to misery cramped together in the most awful environments and then
rammed into cages and off to be killed.
People tend to focus on slaughtering and forget about what
comes before. They hide behind the ‘cry’ that we kill humanely. I personally
fail to see how being stunned before having your throat cut is humane. It’s
less barbaric arguably but it’s not and never was humane. Perhaps it’s just a
little less stressful and a slightly ‘easier’ death than some other practices
we read about. For what it is worth it’s
even worse for chickens. Whilst I’m on this topic being corralled in a pen
waiting for their turn to be murdered isn’t pleasant for any animal. They smell
death and they suffer extreme anxiety. Before anyone jumps to the conclusion
that I’m an inner city greenie, I will point out I was born and raised in the
country. My father was a farmer so I have witnessed practices first hand.
By all means we should speak up about cruel practices but in
all conscious we can’t condemn others and then conveniently turn a blind-eye to
what happens on our own doorsteps. Some of the most vocal never ever utter a word
about pig pens, feed lots or battery farms. I would be on a safe bet in saying that
many of those ‘shouting their mouths off’ about the deal with China have tucked
into their bacon and eggs this morning with nary a thought for what happened
before their food hit their plates.
As with so many things in life money will continue to drive
our live export industry. It’s big business. We can only hope to minimise the
impact on animals. It’s the same for the
less than desirable practices on our own shores (depending on your view of
course). But please let’s cease the hypocrisy of the faux outrage over live
exports and continue to ignore what happens here. The argument about its less
cruel doesn’t overcome the fact that raising animals for human consumption involves
a level of cruelty. Some people can accept that which is their right of course. But if you do have an issue with it, do what I did and become a
vegetarian. 