RSPCA Speaks Out Against Live Export Trade

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Friday, July 03, 2009

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RSPCA Speaks Out Against Live Export Trade

AUSTRALIA - The Live Export Shipboard Performance Report revealed that more than 36,000 sheep, cattle and goats died while being transported overseas for slaughter in 2008.

"It's not a quick or simple death - they died from such things as starvation, salmonellosis, injury and pneumonia," said The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Australia.

"The sad reality is that Australia's live exporters measure their success by the number of animals still standing at the end of the sea voyage. The fact is that tens of thousands of animals that embark on these journeys out of Australia every year will not walk off at the other end."

The RSPCA warns consumers not to believe the live export lobby's claims that this is an entrenched Australian tradition. "It isn't," they say. "Live exports represent just another market opportunity."

"But it is a market opportunity that comes at a cost to animal welfare and to Australia's reputation. There are alternatives that have proven to be far more lucrative than the trade in live animals. Our meat exports are seven times more valuable to the economy and they keep jobs here in Australia."

ThePigSite News Desk