Australian animals brutally slaughtered in Israel

June 9, 2015 Agencies
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Footage has been shown on Israeli television of the brutal slaughter of cattle shipped to Israel from Australia.

A new Animals Australia investigation in Israel has further highlighted the failure of Australia’s live export regulatory system.

The graphic footage — screened across Israel last night — was documented by hidden cameras in a major Israeli abattoir accredited under Australia’s live export regulations. It shows Australian cattle having their tails deliberately crushed, throats brutally sawn and being hoisted by one leg while still obviously conscious — all in breach of Australian and international (OIE) standards.

“Not even the presence of CCTV cameras could deter workers from breaking tails and failing to check that animals were unconscious before hoisting them to the ceiling for processing,” said Animals Australia Chief Investigator Lyn White.

“Kosher slaughter in Israel already involves cattle enduring the extreme stress of being tipped upside down and having their throats cut whilst fully conscious. To then have workers subjecting clearly conscious and distressed animals to such wanton cruelty is simply appalling.”

A complaint lodged by Animals Australia with the Department of Agriculture has also been provided to Israeli authorities. Over the past two years both of Israel’s major abattoirs — both approved under Australia’s Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) — have now been exposed for terrible cruelty.

WARNING!  THE VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS EXTREMELY DISTURBING IMAGERY

 

“That Australian cattle could be subjected to such abuse in an approved abattoir presents further evidence that this system is fatally flawed. Once again without the efforts of Animals Australia, the ‘regulator’ wouldn’t even know that Australian regulations are being breached.”

Animals Australia is calling for CCTV to be made mandatory in all ESCAS-approved abattoirs, with remote access being provided to the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Australia.

“Live exporters are presenting CCTV on its own as the answer yet clearly it’s not, as CCTV was operating in this Israeli abattoir. Unless DA has remote access to CCTV it will not act as a deterrent to workers engaging in abuse. The technology is there and there is no reason why this cannot be a regulatory condition imposed on exporters.”

“Three years into this system, we are seeing horrific cruelty continue in various countries as a result of an abject failure of the Department of Agriculture to mete out any meaningful repercussions for serious breaches.”

“Even if Minister Barnaby Joyce is indifferent to animal suffering, he shouldn’t be indifferent to the fact that his regulations are a laughing-stock that no party involved in this trade fears.”

The Dabbah abattoir, located in Deir Al Asad in Israel, is approved under ESCAS. Information was received of systemic issues during handling and slaughter. Two Australian exporters ship animals to Israel — Livestock Shipping Services and Otway Exports.

An Israeli government investigation is underway and the abattoir is facing a lengthy closure due to failing to meet religious slaughter requirements.

Media reports state that the abattoir is now under the control of an Australian veterinarian and that three slaughtermen have been sacked

J-Wire has asked the Israeli Embassy in Canberra for a statement…

Comments

3 Responses to “Australian animals brutally slaughtered in Israel”
  1. Danuta Glendenning says:

    I’ve seen footage of bovines delivered to Gaza, and that was 100% worse. But that does not mean that Israelis can be considered as more animal friendly just because Gazans are more cruel. Israelis have to adopt an internationally accepted standard of killing the animals. It could be that the employees there were Arabs, it’s possible; but it should not happen in Israel at all. I agree with Raymond Phillips that animals have to be slaughtered in Australia.

  2. Raymond Phillips says:

    The manner in which these animals are slaughtered is totally unacceptable. And furthermore religious beliefs in how meat is procured does not enter the equation. There is a right way and a wrong way to carry these procedures. May be all meat exported from Australia should be slaughtered here under strict supervision before delivery.

    • In the know says:

      The greatest tragedy here is a miscarriage of understanding.

      Firstly, no one wants to see how their meat is processed. It is simply in poor taste!

      More important than poor taste is this lie that animals are being treated cruelly.

      This is simply not the case!

      The issue of the beast entering the ‘stick pit’ or the ‘kill box’ and then being turned upside down is not a matter of animal cruelty, but rather an old procedure that is now outdated because of new better standards. The beast does not experience any pain being turned upside down prior to slaughter. That said, there is possibly a level of ‘anxiety’ or confusion to the beast. No animal likes being turned upside down. But cruelty is a step too far?

      How many times have you held your pet puppy upside down. How many times have you held your cat upside down. They don’t like being upside down. But to call it cruelty is extreme.

      Now the main issue.

      When a beast has it’s jugular and windpipe severed simultaneously, any doctor would affirm that the blood pressure drop from a living beings brain is virtually instant (give or take 1 second). The beast falls unconscious due to the instant pressure drop. It’s like a human fainting. We just drop! We don’t remember anything or feel anything!!

      What you have demonstrated here is the fresh carcass of the beast falling after slaughter.

      Electrical convulsion is part and parcel of the muscle spasm that all beings experience post mortum.

      Tails being caught and all that mumbo jumbo is simply misinformed.

      The beasts are dead at this point.

      This is not animal cruelty!

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