Graphic Videos: Yet More Egypt Cruelty Footage Emerges

“OMG…This has got to be at the top of the pile when it comes to cruelty in abattoirs,  This is torture for animals in a living hell; at its worst. I can’t believe this is still being allowed to happen. The only way we can help to stop this is by sharing, making the public aware of the atrocities going on. We must get people signing the Animals Australia Ban on Live Export petition! Help the Australian people understand what is happening & that some in their government are happy for it to continue.

“Voting happens in September, people need to know the truth, the full horror of the export trade; before they cast they vote. We have to rise up, voice our disgust & demand better welfare for these animals; if we don’t who will? This Torture can not be allowed to carry on..PERIOD!! So please share, cross-post etc. If you get an error message when clicking on my link, don’t worry, it’s not spam, it is an error, Facebook have been informed of it! “

“I’m describing the video so that you really are aware of what you’re about to see, should you choose to press play. The first video is horrific, the steers are put in a machine that turns them upside down, then their throats are slit. As they tumble out of the contraption, they stand, their sliced throats flap around as they look for escape! But the second video is the worst. Jacob, a lone steer is repeatedly stabbed with a knife into his eyes, his tendons are slashed repeatedly until he goes down…then his final minutes of torture end with his throat once again being repeatedly slashed. How the fuck is this possible; do their lives really mean so little, that their owners & governments are prepared to stand by; & do nothing??

Further shocking evidence has surfaced of Australian cattle being abused in an Egyptian abattoir.

The footage reveals conscious animals walking around with gaping throat cuts in an Egyptian abattoir that has been hailed by industry as ‘state-of-the-art’.

Once more, this reinforces the cruel nature of un-stunned slaughter. Yet inconceivably, Labor, the Coalition and the live export industry have all rejected calls for mandatory stunning of animals in the live trade.

Just over a week ago, evidence provided by Animals Australia of cruelty to Australian cattle in Egypt sparked a government investigation. This latest evidence was brought to Animals Australia’s attention this week and immediately provided to the Department of Agriculture.

Once again, the industry’s mantra of needing to stay in a market to improve welfare has been exposed for what it is: PR spin designed to maintain producer and government support.

Sadly, farmers have again been deceived by the very industry bodies that purport to represent them. They are being told that their animals are well cared for overseas, only to consistently find out otherwise.

The sky won’t fall in if live export ends. Most Australian farmers don’t live export and those who do can be assisted to transition away from the trade — a move that would be better for them and better for animals.

Please stand up & be counted TAKE ACTION NOW »

News & Petition Link:-http://www.banliveexport.com/features/more-egypt-cruelty.php

Shocking live export cruelty in Egypt – Sokhna Viewer Discretion Advised

Published on 6 May 2013

TAKE ACTION NOW: http://www.BanLiveExport.com/egypt

Animals Australia’s latest live export investigation revealed terrified animals making desperate efforts to escape after having their throats cut open; others with eyes stabbed; leg tendons slashed; and being butchered while still alive… This is the nightmare endured by animals who were exported live from Australia to Egypt.

Shocking live export cruelty in Egypt – Ismailia Viewer Discretion Strongly Advised

Published on 6 May 2013

Shocking cruelty captured in Egypt’s Ismailia abattoir shows an injured Australian steer stabbed in the eyes, and disabled by having his leg tendons slashed.

HELP END THIS CRUELTY:http://www.BanLiveExport.com/egypt

“The following are “excerpts” from an article in the Tasmanian Times. Please read & do what is necessary to get this torture stopped.”

Iin the House of Representatives, Independent Member for Denison Andrew Wilkie courageously stood up in Parliament with this picture of ‘Jacob’ and demanded some answers from Prime Minister Gillard, who could only reiterate that the government’s system is ‘working’. Andrew’s questioning of the government can be seen here, as well as the totally predictable and fatuous response of the Prime Minister claiming that this evil, disgraceful trade in wretched animal misery and suffering has a ‘social licence’.

The Steer is named Jacob; he is the victim in the second video above

Some things are so obscene, and so depraved, that nothing can ever justify them, and the live animal export trade is absolutely one of those things.

Be careful what you wish for when you cast your vote at the September Federal election. A vote for the coalition will see even more support for the gross animal abuse seen throughout Animals Australia’s 19 investigations. Tony Abbott says ‘one of his first jobs will be to apologise to the Indonesians for the ‘catastrophic’ ban on the cattle trade’ there following the exposure of similar torture of our cattle shown on the ‘Four Corners’ program’A Bloody Business’  in May 2011. In this, the Gillard government and the Abbott coalition are as one.

Will Abbott and his sycophants also want to apologise to Egypt? Bahrain? Kuwait? Pakistan? Malaysia? And all the other countries to which Australia happily sends millions of innocent, gentle animals to be so heinously abused? Tony Abbott wants to make the all-but-meaningless ESCAS ‘more exporter friendly’, if that is indeed possible.

Jacob, the Australian bull filmed at an Egyptian slaughterhouse last month, spent his last horrific many minutes of life having his eyes stabbed and his leg tendons slashed. He had been forced into an appallingly cruel slaughter box, from which, in panic, he escaped, trying to run on three legs because one was already broken. His throat had been slashed and he ran with his head almost hanging off. Jacob was a gentle, Western Australian Brahman bull, who had done nothing wrong. He spent weeks on a Third World live export ship on his way to Egypt before facing this ultimate horror and depravity.

The evidence of the abuse first came from a courageous Egyptian veterinarian, Dr Abdelwahab, a man with seven years experience in Egyptian abattoirs. He expressed to Animals Australia that animal cruelty in Egypt is rife and that neither abattoir management nor on-site veterinarians intervene to stop cruel treatment. He said ‘this action happened yesterday, today, and it will happen tomorrow’. He described the facilities, claimed to be ‘state of the art’ by the Australian government and exporters, detailing the slaughterbox used there which turns the terrified animals upside down, often crushing their ribs and pelvises in the process. 

So please demand that your current Federal MPs and Senators do whatever it takes to bring down this trade. But also take it up with coalition candidates as well, because their agenda is to EXPAND this morally bankrupt industry. Don’t be fooled by the argument that if Australia withdraws from the trade the animal abuse will be even worse, because if millions of Australian animals are nor put on the rotten old ships, that is millions of animals saved – and that many less animals subjected to this horriific and systemic torture. No other countries can supply the volume of animals Australia does.

Don’t buy the argument that the ‘cattle in the north are starving;’ either. If these people have bred thousands of animals for this trade which is going nowhere if the Australian people are heard by their government, then they are obligated to feed and care for them. If they don’t, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law as anyone else would be. Their failure to respond to market forces is their fault and no-one else’s, and there is no more subsidised and privileged sector in the community than the ever-complaining farmers.

Most importantly, make your vote count.Suzanne Cass. http://www.liveexportshame.comhttp://www.stoptac.org Stop Tasmanian Animal Cruelty PO Box 252 BRIDGEWATER TAS 7030http://www.stoptac.org http://www.liveexportshame.comWatch The Debate: Andrew Wilkie Questions The Prime Minister On Live Export

Published on 16 May 2013

Andrew Wilkie asked the Prime Minister to end the live export trade or give a clear personal guarantee that there would be no further animal welfare abuses in Australia’s live export industry.

Read the whole article here:-http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?%2Fweblog%2Farticle%2Fmake-your-vote-count%2F

Horse Recorded As Slaughtered Is Found Wandering The Streets: 11 Months After Supposedly Slaughtered: Q&A How Does The Horse Meat Scandal Effect You?

“I was so happy for this horse, I actually cried when I read his story! But I couldn’t help but feel, so much heartache for the poor horse that took its place; in this heinous, despicable & totally unnecessary bloody business! We kill millions of animals daily around the world, to supply the demand for meat for human consumption; SO WE DO NOT NEED TO BE KILLING EQUINES FOR BURGERS, SAUSAGES OR STEAKS! I hope this makes a lot of people think about what they eat; knowing what drugs my horses have had, I would be worried about my health too. This would definitely stop me eating meat; if not already virtually vegan!! 

A horse recorded as being slaughtered by an Irish abattoir in March 2012 was found wandering the roads of Longford last Sunday in the latest alarming twist in the horsemeat scandal.

Worrying: This horse was found wandering the streets of Ireland 11 months after official records state he was slaughtered, raising fears over the state of the country’s traceability system

The discovery of the small, black and white cob known as ‘Charlie’ – 11 months after official records state he was slaughtered – offers concrete proof of the chaos that the State’s traceability system for horses is in.

Experts last night suggested that Charlie’s horse passport – which would have confirmed that he was safe to enter the food chain – could have been transferred to another, larger horse that would have been banned from doing so.

The latest scandal comes after a week of shocking revelations as the horsemeat scandal that began in Ireland spread right across Europe. 

Frozen food company Findus last night confirmed that it may take legal action against its suppliers after its beef lasagne was found to contain up to 100 per cent horsemeat. The UK Food Standards Authority has said it will carry out tests on beef served in hospitals and schools – although the authorities here said they have no such plans.

The French ministry of agriculture has also begun a criminal investigation into the origin of the lasagne horsemeat, which it believes came from Romania.

Last month, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland discovered forged documents had been used in processing some horses at a reputable abattoir in Limerick. While the documentation initially appeared genuine, the veterinary stamp had in fact been forged. The meat was intended for export to Italy.

The discovery of Charlie came as Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney told TDs that he had tightened up the passport system for tracking horses

In safe hands:Care: Animal charity worker Andrea Kelly with the scanner that identified Charlie

Under the system each horse is issued with its own passport as well as being implanted with a microchip that gives it a unique ID number. ‘A horse is not allowed into the human food chain unless it has a passport and it is microchipped and identified,’ he told the Agriculture Committee.

‘It must be identified within six months of birth, or within the year of birth. We are enforcing those rules now. I am not saying everything was perfect in the past.’ Mr Coveney added that he would act if he was told that the passport system was in disarray – but only if he was given clear evidence.

‘If anyone has evidence to suggest that something continues to be seriously wrong with regard to the slaughtering of horses, I need to hear about it and see it. I cannot act on hearsay.’

However, when the Mail on Sunday put the case of Charlie to the Department of Agriculture, it declined to comment. A spokesman would only repeat yesterday: ‘As stated earlier in the week, the Department doesn’t comment on individual cases.’

The Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has repeatedly alleged that passports are switched in order to allow undocumented horses to enter the food chain. Passing horsemeat off as beef offers unscrupulous traders a potential windfall. Horsemeat sells on average for €900 per tonne, while beef costs €3,500.

When the MoS told USPCA chief executive Stephen Philpott yesterday about Charlie, he said: ‘That doesn’t surprise me. The Irish passport system is corrupt. I tried talking to the Irish ministry but no-one would listen. Now they are listening, I had three meetings with Mr Coveney’s staff this week.’

Mr Philpott said passports are regularly moved around. ‘The root of the problem is they recycle the passports like washers.’ He added: ‘Charlie could have been part of a consignment of live horses being illegally shipped through the North for slaughter in England. Maybe he was too small or the horse was sold as a pet for a bit of opportune money-making by the driver.’

Charlie was rescued in a starved state by Hilary Robinson, co-founder of the animal charity Hungry Horse Outside, following an alert by gardaí in Longford town. Two of the horses are female and pregnant but have not been microchipped so cannot be identified. The other horse, a stallion we now know to be named ‘Charlie’, did have a microchip.

To Ms Robinson’s shock when she contacted the department’s registry, an official told her that number belongs to a horse slaughtered in March 2012. The official added the horse was registered to Horse Sport Ireland, the largest passport-issuing body in the State.

Ms Robinson told the MoS: ‘There is no traceability here; this is the third horse we have found like this in the last year. And I would say 60 since 2007 when we started rescuing horses.’

When the MoS contacted Horse Sport Ireland, Norah Byrne in registration confirmed Horse No 372-1414-0493-4674 was slaughtered on March 24 in an abattoir licensed to kill horses for human consumption. This newspaper contacted the slaughterhouse’s directors but they declined to comment.

The current head of clinical pathology at the Irish Equine Centre, Desmond Leadon, said the case of Charlie supports what he found while researching a report on ‘Unwanted Horses in Ireland.’ He said: ‘Something has gone seriously wrong and someone may have manipulated the situation. What you’re saying is consistent with things that are being rumoured.’

When the registered owner of the horse, Bernadette Walsh, was contacted, she was shocked to hear of the pitiful state Charlie had been found in. But she was also very angry at the lack of regulation which allows her name to be on his records when she passed the horse on more than three years ago.

Mrs Walsh, an animal rights activist in Sligo, speculated that because Charlie is smaller than a coloured cob would usually be, his passport could have been sold on illegally. ‘If you have a book for a small horse, you can pass on that book at the marts. I would like to know whether another cob was passed off as Charlie and was slaughtered,’ she said.

While refusing to comment on the issue of Charlie, a Department spokesman said it was working on improving the passport system.

And adding to the concerns of animal welfare groups is the slow progress of introducing the Animal Health and Welfare Bill. It is hoped this will update the existing Protection of Animals Act 1911.

Q&A: HOW THE HORSEMEAT SCANDAL AFFECTS YOU

Where has horsemeat been found in products on sale?

The alarm over the sale of horsemeat first began when a Tesco frozen ‘Value’ beefburger was found to contain 29% horsemeat.

This was discovered during routine testing by the authorities, with the findings made public on January 15. Frozen burgers on sale at Aldi and Lidl were also affected.

Other burgers at Iceland were found to contain traces of horsemeat DNA, but there is no suspicion that the beef was substituted by horsemeat in those instances. This discovery of this low-level contamination – below 1% – was because of the sensitivity of the tests.

There was further alarm on Thursday when Findus announced it had found 60% to 100% levels of horsemeat in its 320g, 350g and 500g packs of frozen beef lasagne. Tesco removed all of these products from its shelves.

And on Friday, Aldi said 30% to 100% horsemeat had been found in its own-brand frozen beef lasagne and spaghetti bolognese. These have also been removed.

What other meat products could contain horsemeat instead of beef?

The products that are considered most at risk of horsemeat contamination are those made from a form of pulverised minced meat. This is known in the food industry as comminuted meat. So tests are under way on frozen and fresh burgers, meatballs, sausages, pies and ready meals such as lasagne, spaghetti bolognese, cottage pie and moussaka.

What should you do if you have a product containing horsemeat in your freezer?

You should return it to the store where you bought it. Supermarkets have agreed to accept returns with no questions asked and to refund customers.

How can you best avoid  buying a contaminated product?

The best advice is to buy fresh raw meat at the supermarket or from a trusted butcher.

What about beef served in places such as hospitals, pubs, restaurants and cafés?

If you are in any doubt, ask at the outlet if they can guarantee their beef supplies.

THE FOUR WAYS TO TRACE A HORSE

There are four main ways to tell one horse from another. These are microchips, passports, the markings on a horse’s coat and its whorls, or the pattern its hair grows in.
Microchips with a barcode are implanted into the horse. Since 2009 all horses (and donkeys and ponies) should have a chip which has been put in by a vet.

This chip carries a unique number and is recorded by the Department of Agriculture as well as the relevant issuing body.
There are now seven issuing agencies in Ireland – one was closed by the Department of Agriculture for irregularities in October of last year.

Since 2004 horse owners should have a passport for each animal they own. Depending on the agency, these can be green, blue or plain white.
Green ones are issued to horses where the breeding of both father and mother can be traced. The passport states the breed of the horse as well as name and address of the owner, and carries the barcode to match the microchip in most cases.

The passport also contains a crucial section known as the Marking Chart. Vets must draw in distinctive markings and whorls on a chart – markings could be a different coloured shape on the horse’s back or white ‘socks’ on the lower legs.

Whorls in horses are as unique as fingerprints in humans – they happen when the hair in a small spot grows in a swirling shape and stands out from the rest of the horse’s coat.

News Link:-: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2276287/Horse-abandoned-Ireland-week-ecords-SLAUGHTERED-March.html#ixzz2KhjKn3Lt Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Ohio to return wild animals to family that allowed panic escape

“Talk about another accident waiting to happen…are they crazy??”

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) – Five wild animals will soon be returned to the widow of a man who released them into the Ohio countryside last year, state officials said on Monday, raising concerns of a repeat of the panic that gripped the state when dozens of beasts including lions, tigers and bears roamed free. 

Seven months after Terry Thompson released 56 exotic animals near Zanesville, Ohio, and then committed suicide, the Ohio legislature still is struggling to draft regulations on wild animal ownership. Ohio is one of only a handful of states with no restrictions on exotic animal ownership.

The state Agriculture Department said on Monday it had no legal way to prevent the five remaining animals – a spotted leopard, a black leopard, two Celebes Macaquemonkeys and a brown bear – from being given back to Thompson’s widow, Marilyn.

She has said she will take them back to the farm and put them in the cages they fled last October.

“This raises concerns, as she has indicated the cages have not been repaired, and has repeatedly refused to allow animal welfare experts to evaluate if conditions are safe for the animals and sufficient to prevent them from escaping and endangering the community,” the Agriculture Department said.

The agency said the only hope of preventing their return to the Thompson family within 24 hours from the Columbus Zoo is for the county Humane Society to seek a court order to inspect the farm.

“Until then we can only hope that local officials choose to act to prevent another tragedy,” the Agriculture Department said.

The local Humane Society could not immediately be reached for comment.

After Thompson, who had been charged with animal cruelty 11 times since 2004, released the lions, tigers and other wild animals last October, law enforcement officials had to go on a big game hunt. Authorities warned residents to stay inside while they killed 49 of the 56 animals.

Six were captured and sent to the Columbus Zoo but one spotted leopard later died there. Another animal was presumed eaten by others and was never accounted for.

The surviving animals have been held at the Columbus Zoo.

The state Senate passed a bill last week that would ban Ohio residents from buying lions, tigers, bears,elephants, wolves, alligators, crocodiles, and certain kinds of monkeys as pets, unless they follow strict guidelines.

Existing owners of wild animals can keep them if they follow the new rules, which include permit fees, registration and constructing proper facilities. The Ohio House may not vote on the measure until the end of May.

News Link:- http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-04-30/news/sns-rt-us-usa-animals-ohiobre83t0wx-20120430_1_wild-animals-animal-cruelty-ohio-house