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VICTORY! Labor votes animals into office
10 February 2012 Have your say
For too long our Agriculture Ministers (responsible for animal welfare) have been answerable to the very perpetrators of industrialised animal cruelty. Now there's hope for an end to the conflict of interest with an Independent Office of Animal Welfare.
Australians were relentless last year in their efforts to give our abused live exported animals a voice but what many may not know is that this fierce advocacy has done more than that. It is set to deliver all Australian animals the independent representation they have so desperately needed — through their own office!
The first critical step has been taken — with the Australian Labor party acknowledging the importance of animal welfare to Australians by voting at their national conference to establish an Independent Office of Animal Welfare. This is a remarkable development which has the potential to change the animal welfare landscape in Australia.
Our current system has consistently failed animals for decades. Both at the Federal and State levels, departments and ministers charged with looking after animal welfare have as their primary stakeholders the very industries that cause animals the greatest suffering. With this clear conflict of interest — the welfare of animals has always come second to the economic interests of the rural lobby.
This is why in 2012 we still have 500 million animals confined to cruel factory farms; why we continue to subject animals to the horrors of live export; why dairy calves trucked to slaughter can be legally denied food for 30 hours; and it is why after three years of consultation sheep and cattle are still not provided with nationally consistent legal protection.
An Independent Office of Animal Welfare would have the authority to shape policy and make decisions that first and foremost are in the interests of the animals. The IOAW received vehement support from all sides at the ALP conference, demonstrating the strength of our united voices last year and that animal welfare is finally acknowledged as an issue of political and national significance.
It's terrific that the IOAW is ALP policy, but we now need to encourage the government to implement it. If your local Federal member is in the ALP please contact them today: applaud the ALP for voting for the establishment of an Independent Office of Animal Welfare, and note that you look forward to it being established as soon as possible. You have helped us give animals a voice. Now let's get them an office.
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all abattoirs Australia wide.If they are doing the right thing they should be
open to the public if they have nothing to hide.I have contacted Harvey
Beef here in W.A. and they stated it was a health and Safety issue why
the public couldn,t tour their facilities.
Have been on the waiting list for the MELBOURNE event with Lyn White but have still not been called. I called the office just now and it doesn't appear that I'll be able to get a ticket.
If anyone has a spare ticket or a cancellation, I'd be happy to buy it off you.
Cheers!
I did and now I'm going
Judith
What an achievement what a lady
How wonderful for all animals
I'm going with my 13 year old son we can't wait
Judith
The IOAW must have the power to enforce laws which give protection to animals and the fines and prison terms must be severe.
The absolute first priority for the IOAW is to enforce mandatory CCTV Cameras at all Slaughterhouses/Abbatoirs, Animal Saleyards, Animal Feedlots and battery 'farms'.
I am fed up with turning on my tv and seeing yet more nightmare visions of animal cruelty, and nothing is being done to stop it. It's not enough to close the facility; a classic case of "shutting the stable door". The cruelty must be prevented in the first place, and the only way to do that is for these people to know that someone at the IOAW will be watching them.
Thank you.
2. The IOAW must introduce mandatory TAFE Courses for ALL people who work with animals and/or have animals as pets. The TAFE Courses must include: Animal Law, Animal Welfare for their food, shelter and warmth needs, slaughterhouse/abbatoir - all transport from farm/feedlot, holding pens, walking through lanes to slaughter, pre-stunning, can the animals see their children, family and friends being slaughtered/killed, are they dead prior to being hung up and bled? and most importantly their childrens', families and community needs. They are sentient beings are humans.
3. The IOAW must enforce mandatory CCTV Cameras at all Slaughterhouses/Abbatoirs, Animal Saleyards, Animal Feedlots, Battery hens 'farms', Pig Farms/Sow Stalls, Sheep who are kept inside sheds ( for their entire lives ) in single pens for their fine fleece, goats and cows who are taken from the wild and the females are milked for 'entertainment' - check out the latest 'Outback' Magazine and the Wanaaring Fund Raiser, April each year.
4. The IOAW must have strict regulations for the transportation of animals which include stopping in cool areas, water and food within 12 hour periods as a maximum.
5. The IOAW must report transparently with accompanying footage online of all incidents involving non-compliance of Animal Law and also positive role models such as free range living for animals.
I have felt morally dishonest not being able to kill the animals myself while yet still consuming them. This, and my futile attempts to thoughtfully solve the massive environmental, political, ecconomical, humane and moral objectivity of such problems, and moreover, the accompanying ambivalence of said transgressions, the best thing I could do was to simply, stop, eating, them.
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A guy posted that we were all housewives with too much time on our hands and no qualifications to make comments. So someone responded listing these legal groups and told him to do some homework before making a comment. Someone else posted, don't you love it when red necks learn to use a computer.:-)
Anyway here are the links, these may also be animals welfare groups we might like to target when questioning some legal areas of the animal welfare debate. Also is a relief for me to see this professional area behind animal causes. I know they do not seem to have had much of an impact to date however it is better to have them with us than against us.
Barristers animal welfare panel
http://www.bawp.org.au/
Animals Justice Party
http://www.animaljusticeparty.org/standard-page/
Lawyers for Animals
http://lawyersforanimals.org.au/
Have not checked out these sites thoroughly yet.