It’s depressing enough seeing “celebrity” cooks (eg Maggie Beer, Curtis Stone), musicians (eg Missy Higgins) and sports people (eg Pat Cash) jumping onto fashionable bandwagons without having the wisdom to check whether they’re being told the truth, and seeking information direct from people at the coal face. Which can now be done easily, within minutes, via social media. Twitter, for example, is full of hands-on food and fibre producers who are pleased to be able to provide information from their own first-hand farming experience, and references to information supplied by a wide range of other people and organisations.
Now we have businesses happily volunteering to be mouthpieces for animal rights extremist activities as well.
Take “Techniice”. Page 16 of their current catalogue features this Animals Australia advertisement.
What is also particularly notable, is that their primary customers would be huntin’ shootin’ fishin’ types, who’d no more support Animals Australia, than they would vote Green. (So it’s also a very unwise business decision to run this ad.)
The Animals Australia ad in the Techniice catalogue features these two particular gems of misinformation:
“Most animals who are exported live for slaughter have their throats cut while fully conscious.” (Simple – wrong.)
“Millions have died at sea.” (No idea where they dreamt this wild statistic up from. Travel death rate is very low; & attributable to natural causes.)
I wonder, do the owners of Techniice realise:
- Animals Australia does absolutely zero hands-on animal welfare work. It is purely an advertising/marketing company, reliant on peddling misinformation and emotive statements to raise millions of dollars in donations. Which is simply spent on marketing staff and advertising. Animals Australia has received generous government grants and millions of dollars from the public, and has been granted chartitable status.
- Members of Animals Australia approve of engaging in illegal activities, such as trespassing, upsetting livestock, filming the upset, then broadcasting it purporting to show everyday distress.
- Rather than intervening in any cruelty witnessed, they will stand back and film, then sit on the footage for months without a word to anyone – timing the release of such material not to help the animals being mistreated, but to cause maximum damage to the Australian livestock industry, which they are intent on destroying. Australian livestock producers cannot understand how anyone could witness cruelty and not intervene, on the spot.
- Animals Australia – and most other animal welfare organisations in Australia, including the RSPCA, only care about Australian animals, not animals in other countries. By exporting live animals Australia is able to invest millions of dollars into hands-on programmes to raise animal welfare standards in the receiving countries. And with great results. And this work is continuing. If we did not export our cattle, Australia would lose the opportunity to improve animal welfare outside our borders. In addition, cattle from other countries – countries who never have and never will invest in raising animal welfare standards – will simply fill the gap. Weirdly, Animals Australia and the RSPCA appear happy to turn a blind eye to cattle from other countries being mistreated. Australian livestock producers absolutely cannot understand this attitude – because they love all livestock and want them well treated, regardless of where they are from and who owns them.
- Animals Australia is made up of many member organisations; most of whom are openly vegan. They do not approve of the consumption of any kind of animal products. Animal products are contained in a massive range of products humans depend on – including a vast number of important medicines. Vegans do not approve of using wool, which is the world’s most environmentally friendly, sustainably produced fibre. Instead they prefer petrochemical products. For example, vegan shoes, which are typically made from fossil fuels. Many Animals Australia members do not approve of any human interaction with animals. No more guide dogs or horseriding, for example. Many domestic livestock species would probably become extinct.
- Animal rights extremists are not interested in the environment or native species of plants or animals. They are single mindedly obsessed with a very small number of species – often to the detriment of other species, as well as the environment. This is best illustrated by their stance on feral animal management; when time and again they have campaigned against removal of feral animals such as brumbies, despite the animals themselves suffering in over-population induced droughts, damage to native plants and soil, and increased pressure on threatened native species due to the reduction in food and shelter.
- Animals Australia believes some species of animals are worth caring for, (primarily domestic species), whilst turning a blind eye to the plight of others (eg native species). For example, ask Animals Australia what action they are taking to protect native Australian animals from cat predation (both feral and domestic; in urban and remote environments). Be prepared to be greeted with silence. Or perhaps an explanation of the ‘Trap, Neuter, Release” (TNR) brainwave someone had (animals unable to breed don’t eat native animals?) Residents across Northern Australia have been calling for State and Federal Governments to assist with controlling the current cat plague. I have not seen a single response from any Australian animal welfare/rights organisation. Our local animal shelter continues to rehome cats that have a track record of straying, when the best outcome for the environment would be euthanasia.
- Thousands of proven cases of animal cruelty occur in Australian suburbia, annually. Is there a call anywhere, to ban domestic pets? Instead people work to improve animal management standards and education, with penalities for people who mistreat animals. So why throw the baby out with the bathwater, when it comes to live exports of livestock? The Australian live export industry has worked hard to lift standards of transport and handling in receiving countries. There are occasional breaches, by people doing the wrong thing. That’s unfortunately the nature of the human race – in any walk of life, wherever you go on the planet, you will find a small number of people will do the wrong thing. The smart thing to do is to raise standards and continue to work on education, and penalise people who do the wrong thing.
I will never buy products sold by businesses or “celebrities” that blindly support animal rights organisations, and encourage others to vote with their wallets also. Please help encourage people to seek out the truth, and find out the full picture, before jumping on extremist bandwagons.
I dream of the day when the millions squandered by animal rights extremists on spreading misinformation, is instead invested in hands-on, practical measures to improve the welfare of ALL animals, and the natural environment on which they depend. For example, imagine how much good the millions squandered by Animals Australia could do, if invested in feral animal control in remote areas.
Tags: Australian meat industry, Conservation and the environment, Vegans & Vegos