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Middle East Investigation

September 2007

In September 2007 Animals Australia investigators conducted a further investigation in the Middle East, in response to a claim made in the media by LiveCorp’s CEO Cameron Hall that “almost all” Australian animals are slaughtered humanely in the Middle East.

Fact: Australian animals have their throats cut whilst fully conscious in the Middle East – a practice that is illegal and unacceptable in Australia due to the suffering it inflicts.

The statement by Cameron Hall shows not only how out of touch LiveCorp and Meat & Livestock Australia are with Australian communities views, but also to what lengths they are prepared to go to mislead the Australian public, who may not be privy to the reality for Australian animals in the Middle East. And tragically, what Australian animals endure at the point of slaughter is only one aspect of the suffering they endure.

Again it has been up to Animals Australia investigators to travel to the Middle East and return with evidence to present to the Australian public. Footage and photographs - obtained in UAE, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan - of Australian animals being trussed with rope, dragged, pushed and pulled off trucks onto their backs, thrown in car boots, wheeled into abattoirs, tied up in wheelbarrows and suffering heat stress in 40 plus degree heat (see photos below) aired on the respected ABC current affairs program ‘The 7.30 Report’, resulting in the greatest viewer feedback to their website ever, with appalled Australians calling for this immoral trade to end.

In predictable fashion, Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and Federal Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran tried to convince the Australian public that the cruelties documented were “isolated incidents”, despite knowing that such treatment is widespread and routine throughout the Middle East – and again ignoring the fact that Australian animals are cruelly slaughtered whilst fully conscious throughout the region

Regardless – even if one animal is at risk of being brutally treated after being exported from Australia, our ethical obligation is to not place animals bred into our care at such risk.

However, the tragic repercussions for all animals in the Middle East from Australia’s involvement in this trade are far broader. During four investigations in the region since 2003, Animals Australia investigators have been able to document the most appalling brutality to animals. Australia’s willingness to provide millions of animals to the region has resulted in the wide-spread belief throughout the Middle East that Australians approve of the way they handle, transport and slaughter animals. As a result they are not concerned at having their practices filmed.

Currently some 11 million people in the region believe that Australia approves of their treatment of animals. The only way to dispel this terrible belief, and let them know that the majority of Australians do not approve of live animal export or cruelty to animals, is to stop sending them there. Instantly, the message would then be heard in all corners of the Middle East that animal welfare matters.

MLA/LiveCorp defend their trade on the basis that they are working on the ground in the Middle East to improve welfare. What they fail to admit is that these ‘efforts’ have been since 2003 and in direct response to Animals Australia’s investigations and the resultant public outcry in an attempt to quell calls for their trade to end. Why if they are truly concerned about welfare, was nothing done during the previous 3 decades? When Shuwaikh abattoir in Kuwait was first exposed for cruelty on 60 Minutes after Animals Australia’s first investigation – MLA responded within 24 hours with a press release saying they would hold a 4-day animal handling workshop in Kuwait. This workshop was lauded as successful.

Despite industry claims of improvements – when investigators visited this abattoir in September 2007 nothing had changed and in fact treatment of animals was worse.

Investigation outcomes – action taken

Animals Australia and Compassion in World Farming have written to the Jordanian, Kuwaiti, UAE, Omani and Urugyan governments (investigators documented the brutal killing of an imported Urugyan bull in Jordan) and have provided them with the evidence gathered of cruelty and how this treatment documented fails to comply with OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) guidelines of which all countries are members.

CIWF (in conjunction with Animals Australia) has offered to provide animal handling and slaughter training experts from Bristol University in the UK to assist with improving practices in these countries.