Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 8 • Number 3 • 22nd February 2008

Activists Urge End to Live Animal Trade

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‘Handle With Care’ - a coalition of over 900 animal welfare charities from 147 countries - has initiated a campaign to “end the transportation of millions of animals over long distances for slaughter.” Their aim is for animals to be “taken to slaughterhouses near where they are reared,” putting an end to the unnecessary trade in live animals.

The transport of live animals can occur over thousands of miles. For example, sheep are exported from Australia to the Middle East and pigs from Canada to Hawaii. The coalition claims that tens of thousands of animals die each year as a result of disease, hunger and poor transportation conditions, and is calling on governments to end the trade. After two years of filming, the group has released undercover footage of the journeys.

Leah Garces, campaign director for the World Society for the Protection of Animals said, “we were determined to show people the truth of this hidden and brutal traffic in animals: if you see it for yourself, you just know it must be stopped.” Philip Lymbery, chief executive of Compassion in World Farming, added “the cruelty these animals endure is completely unacceptable in the 21st century.” In fact, the technology exists to replace live animal transport with transport fresh chilled and frozen meat.

Australia has become a main target of this new campaign, with the government criticised for opposing Japanese whaling while supporting live animal exports. Lyn White of campaign group Animals Australia said “we cannot condemn these terrible animal atrocities perpetuated by other nations when we are the world leader in this horrendous trade in animals.” Australia has the world’s largest live animal trade with annual exports valued at over AUS$1 billion.

‘Handle with Care’ is particularly concerned with Australian exports of live animals to the Middle East. However, Cameron Hall, chief of LiveCorp, a company involved in the trade, and Tony Burke, Australia’s minister for agriculture, both supported the trade as a way to “[improve] animal welfare standards in the region through training.”

Additional information

For more detail on the campaign, see http://www.handlewithcare.tv/

“’Cruel’ Animal Transport Targeted,” BBC, 12 February 2008; “Australia Faces Hypocrisy Charge over Live Exports,” THE AGE, 13 February 2008; “End of Animal Transportation Urged,” THE PRESS ASSOCIATION, 12 February 2008.