End Live Animal Exports
May 2022
If voted in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed a plan to end live sheep exports. At last, we would have a PM who agrees with animal activists who for years have been calling compassion for innocent animals caught up in this vile trade.
Diane Cornelius
Concern at outback ringer
November 2020
I was extremely disappointed that the ABC would tarnish its reputation by associating with the new series “Outback Ringer,” which contains examples of gross animal cruelty.
To see vehicles driven through our delicate outback ecosystem with no thought for the harm that it does to our precious, diminishing native wildlife.
This is a program about profit for the offenders who show no consideration to the animals they so cruelly trap and dispose of.
What a shocking example to set your young viewers, when we are trying so hard to stop violence in our society.
I sincerely hope the ABC is flooded with complaints so the series is discontinued.
Diane Cornelius
Heartbreaking drought tale
March 2019
It is heartbreaking to read “Thousands of cattle head to market ahead of dry winter” referring to the result of excessive breeding cattle and sheep in our arid, fragile country. Little is said about the plight of the gentle, sentient animals.
Yet we hear a lot about the farmers lamenting their losses and their need for monetary support. Rather than propping up unsustainable intensive animal agriculture surely it is time for our government to encourage farmers to diversify into farming hydroponically, vertically grown vegetables and crops that are suitable for our increasingly dry conditions.
Diane Cornelius
End the suffering
February 2019
Hundreds of thousands of cattle have reportedly drowned in the Queensland floods.
What a tragic and heartbreaking situation and what an enormous amount of suffering these pitiful animals would have endured as they sought desperately, but hopelessly, to stay afloat.
Many others, marooned on small outcrops, are still suffering as they stand in the mud, cold and starving.
Clearly the floods could not have been avoided but the deaths could have been if we stopped eating meat.
If we all went vegetarian, these animals would not have been on these cattle stations in the first place.
For those who survive this ordeal, there will be no cause for celebration because they will simply die at a later date in one of our slaughterhouses. Or worse, an Indonesian or Middle Eastern slaughterhouse.
Obviously the world is not going to turn vegan overnight but if we start moving towards it now we can all help alleviate future animal suffering.
Jenny Moxham
Shocking cruelty
February 2019
The Northern Territory is condoning animal cruelty through the use of shock collars. The collars are activated by GPS, if cattle try to get to pastures across unfenced areas - a recognition that grazier have so many animals spread over such vast stations that they are unable to keep them safe.
The collars deliver a shock that has been compared to being stabbed in the neck.
Bizarrely, the cattle exploiters have claimed this form of torture is safer than electric fencing (which unsurprisingly is more expensive to install) as if these were the only two options.
The logic reminds me of a teacher I had several decades ago who would claim he was being generous for hitting us with a cane, because as a child, he had been hit by a strap. Use of either today would be grounds for assault charges, and use of electricity on gentle animals trying to find food in inhospitable areas is animal abuse.
If these devices are so benign, let's see graziers using them as a demonstration. And if they can't look after animals without brutalising them, then they should not be allowed to have them.
Of course we don't need graziers to do the right thing, if we do - we have the power to stop the abuse of animals by refusing to eat them.
Des Bellamy, Special projects co-ordinator for PETA
Cows at trough
December 2018
We read in the paper of the problems for our dairy farmers re water resources.
From my childhood on a dairy farm I know first-hand of the enormous amounts of water cows drink: up to 80 litres per day.
As a child I often sat on a pony by the water trough watching the herd of milkers drink, amazed at the quick way the full trough became empty.
There are water-friendly nut milks nowadays.
The farmers who are diminishing their herds are taking the right steps for the environment .
Alice Shore
That glass of milk hurt cows
August 2018
Most people talk about compassion and ethics as important considerations, yet Robin Grant claims “choosing to eat what we want” is acceptable, even if as he claims to be, fully aware of the cruelty involved in the dairy industry.
Sadly, many people believe that “Daisy and Flo” “give” milk willingly. But in industrial factory dairy farms, cows are artificially inseminated in order to maintain continual lactation. That milk is meant for their calves, not for human consumption.
Cows’ milk is designed to produce large animals quickly. Their milk is full of female hormones as they are milked while pregnant, and are re-inseminated three months after giving birth.
They suffer from painful mastitis, stretched ligaments in their udders, hip dysplasia and foot problems, called “laminitis”, because of the weight of the massive amount of milk they are forced to produce. This is all common practice not rare, as you suggest, Grant. So yes, people do prefer to choose readily available and much more healthy, kinder and sustainable plant-based milk.
Diane Cornelius
Consumption out of control? Time will tell
June 2018
Frank Brown’s name calling is ridiculous, although it is disappointing to see producers opting out of being certified organic.
Grass is the healthiest food for cattle, whereas they get very sick in confined feed-lots. It doesn’t matter to farmers who intensively farm animals as they are being fattened up for slaughter.
As vegetarians and particularly as vegans, we would rather not have animals brutally slaughtered in their billions, for nothing more than the fact people like the taste of their flesh. The sale of animal carcasses is now just seen as a commodity like soft drinks or sliced bread. The transporting and slaughter of animals will be looked upon by future generations as the darkest time in our history.
Diane Cornelius
Reconsider the way we treat animals
June 2018
It's pleasing to learn that livestock will soon suffer less during transport, “Moo-ving them right” but they will still suffer enormously during their lives of severe deprivation and confinement, not to mention their brutal deaths. Inflicting even the slightest pain on these harmless animals is unjustified because we humans have absolutely no requirement for any animal products in our diet whatsoever. The truth is, it’s actually healthier to avoid them.
Isn’t it time we stopped inflicting so much misery on animals? Isn’t it time we started moving towards a more compassionate and caring world?
Isn’t it time we started adhering to the golden rule which calls on us to treat others in the manner we would like to be treated?
Jenny Moxham
Tungali feedlot expansion
April 2018
It is shocking to read of the expansion of the Tungal feedlot, at Sedan, from 3,000 to 10,000 head of cattle.
With climate change havoc, with drying up of water resources, with the scarcity of plant protein in the world, with the involvement of cattle in greenhouse emissions. Gina Rinehart's greed is a very destructive one.
Alice Shore