Westminster School

Alison Avenue, Marion

South Australia, 5043

To The Hon David Speirs MP SA Minister for Animal Welfare, Conservation and Water

Dear Mr. Speirs,

My name is Riley Chapman, and I am a Year 10 student at Westminster School in South Australia. In English we have been asked to write a letter about an issue that we are passionate about. Personally, I have found the recent news reports on the cruel trade of live export sickening and want to write to you to express my opinion and to put an end to the live animal exporting industry.

By now, you are obviously aware that 98, 804 sheep are stacked tightly over ten stories for three weeks when they are transported from Australia to overseas countries, mostly in the Middle East. This is disgusting! How would you feel if you were held in a “slurry of dung” in temperatures exceeding 30°c and humidity above 90%? These sheep struggle to breathe in what a report on 60 Minutes has deemed as “death zones”, consisting of cramped conditions in hot temperatures, no air, unclean water and little food. Do you actually care about ending this senseless suffering?

In Australia, it is illegal to lock your dog within a car for any period of time because of the high temperatures they endure. This is a law considered fair by most of Australians, and probably yourself included, but if it is illegal to lock one dog in a boiling hot car for hours, it should be illegal to torture thousands of sheep aboard a vessel for three weeks. This is unfair to these innocent animals, yet it is interesting and distressing to see how this practice is sacrificed for the sake of an industry worth a quarter of a billion dollars.

This industry has recently been exposed for breaking multiple laws; one in particular is about killing the sheep humanely in the event of them becoming sick on board the ships. Instead of this occurring, most of the 800 sheep that die each day suffer dreadfully, including those left on the pen floor crushed underneath the hooves of other sheep, because the one vet on board cannot keep up. Is it humane to let a sheep be crushed beneath another sheep? No it is not! Is it humane to continually throw sheep, or any other livestock for that matter, over the railings of a huge ship into the ocean, only to become shark food? No it is not! I am imploring you to end this abhorrent practice.

I ask you once again, how much do you really care about this issue? Speak out and join the increasing number of people in Australia wanting to stop live export. Stop live export today!

I appreciate you reading this letter, and look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Riley Chapman

Ending Puppy Factories

To Whom It Concern,

My name is Rachel Sanders, and I am a student at Westminster School. In English we have been asked to write a letter about an issue we are passionate about; therefore, I have chosen to write about ending puppy factories in Australia. After researching this topic, I am disgusted at the way dogs are treated in puppy factories. It has to stop! Have you ever felt what it is like to live without adequate comfort, little food and water, insufficient oxygen? I am guessing no. These mother dogs and puppies are suffering these conditions every day. How can people look into those sad and tormented eyes, and then have the strength to turn their back and walk away?

After being pregnant so many times, many of the mother dogs arrive at a stage where they can barely walk, because their bone structure has become too horrifically weak. The saddest thing about this shocking industry is that if the female dogs do not produce enough puppies, they are shot, which is an absolutely disgusting thing to do to any animal. I ask you, can you imagine living there for your whole life? Can you imagine growing up in a place full of loss, misery and sorrow?

These dogs get no love, no treats and no care. All they have are matted and tangled hair covered in faeces and mud. As you walk up to the cages of grief and despair, the dog’s hearts are that dispirited that they do not even have the courage to fight back or to give people a chance; they are scared for their life. This whole industry is inhumane, and sickening!

These dogs do not deserve to be cooped up in a pen that does not have enough space for them. This is not a situation that can be resolved in a short space of time; however, if people do not speak out about this deplorable practice then nothing will change.  I ask you to help me speak out and help these dogs escape from the world they are living. The difference of one person, can truly make a difference to the world!

Thank you for reading my letter, and I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Rachel Sanders