Friday, September 02, 2016

Sheep and cattle

MM Online - Inhumane transportation of livestock


The author of this humane-to-animals article is SM Mohamed Idris, president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM). He wrote something which would find resonance with most Aussies who love and respect animals of all types. I'm not sure whether he will be favourably accepted by most Malaysians? He wrote (extracts):

August 29 commemorates the biggest live export disaster which took place in 1996 when a ship carrying 67,000 sheep on board caught fire and disappeared in the Indian Ocean.

The ship was on route from Australia to Jordan – Australia’s biggest market for live sheep – when fire started in the engine room and spread to the crew’s quarters, killing one of the 55 crew members, while the remaining crew abandoned ship.

This tragic incident is not the only one, for another similar incident occurred in 1980, when 40,600 sheep were lost in a fire on a ship travelling from Tasmania to Iran.

On the Malaysian turf in February 1998, 2,400 head of livestock were stranded when they arrived from Geraldton in Western Australia on the MV Anomis.

Suddenly the agent acting for the vessel’s owners, Agro Livestock Ltd cancelled the contract causing the vessel to be refused entry to Port Klang. When the ship finally docked after obtaining an order from the High Court, 285 goats and 113 cattle were found to have died from exhaustion, stress and pneumonia.


Transport of live animals especially of mainly sheep and lambs over long distances by sea from Australia or New Zealand to mainly the Gulf nations is due to the Islamic requirements of proper ritual slaughter in accordance with Quranic procedures, otherwise the sheep and lambs could be slaughtered in their home countries by qualified Muslim butchers and their frozen mean then transported.

But somehow the Arabs want to slaughter the sheep themselves. Perhaps they don't trust the Aussie Muslims doing the job, who are mainly Afghans and Somalians. Maybe they think those Aussie Muslims are Shiites or they (Gulf Arabs) want to see blood themselves.



There is also a far smaller transport of live cattle from Australia to mainly Indonesia but lately due to Aussie concern and consequential brouhaha (by Aussie animal groups) over the way the Indons brutally hammered (with sledge hammers) the cattles for slaughter, the Indons have been playing merajuk and hard-to-get and have downsized the trade, much to the consternations of Aussie cattle owners. It's obvious the Indons don't like those patronizing and criticizing Aussies, wakakaka.

Once the Gulf Arabs did the same merajuk don't-want-to-communicate-with-Aussie trick, and some 40,000 sheeps went from port to port to port (suffering along the long odyssey) because the Gulf Arabs, after ordering the live animals, refused to accept the load.

Eventually, out of desperation and perhaps with Aussie government financial backing (under political pressure from animal lovers groups), the poor very much suffering sheep were off loaded in Ethiopia (or one of the poor African countries - perhaps Eritrea?), free of charge to the locals.


There was also a recent hue and cry in Oz about the way the Viets were slaughtering the Australian bred cattles, which was not unlike the Indons' way, quite inhuman and brutal.

The Aussies didn't/don't realize the Viets or Indons don't have the sophisticated tools or slaughtering devices and machines they have, as it all boils down to cost.

Why don't the Aussies donate some of those tools, machines etc, seeing as how they have been so concerned. In fact, nowadays, in Oz and NZ, the RSPCA in each country has a big say, and you will note that (like Halal certification) the meat or chooks in supermarkets have a 'Preparation of this meat (or fowl) has been approved by RSPCA' or words to that effect.

But I bet if those Aussies are aware of how our Muslims slaughter cattle or camels on Eid al Adha, they will go bonkers. But there are many such religious activities all around the Muslim World so what could they say?

Hmmm, maybe they will pick on Japs for slaughtering whales in the Antarctic Sea and South Koreans for dogs at home?



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