Federal government veterinarians have alleged that injured animals are being transported to Australian slaughterhouses, despite laws intended to protect unfit livestock.
Reports acquired by The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age claim that some sheep and cattle arriving at Victorian export abattoirs are incapable of supporting their own weight, with some dying in transit and others requiring euthanasia on arrival.
The reports date from March to August 2019, and several distressing incidents are alleged.
These include numerous dog bite injuries to sheep at the South Australian government’s agricultural research centre, and 14 injured sheep which were badly mishandled on the way to a Victorian abattoir.
Of the latter incident, the Herald reported claims four of the sheep were seen piled on top of each other at the base of the unloading station, with another five on the floor of the unloading area noted to be in a “moribund and debilitated state”.
An on-plant vet was ultimately called in to euthanise all the animals, except for one which had already died.
The disturbing reports follow the publication of the RSPCA’s regulatory scorecard for Australian slaughtering establishments, which exposes gaps in regulatory systems across states and territories.
Published in May 2021, Animal welfare in abattoirs, poultry processors and knackeries – regulatory scorecard found facilities in New South Wales and South Australia to have the highest welfare standards across the industry.
The report also noted “little to no transparency” around welfare standards and auditing of slaughtering establishments “especially in domestic abattoirs and knackeries,” and decried the lack of public reporting of outcomes of investigations into cruelty and poor practices.
“These problems exist at a time of increasing public concern about livestock production, transport and slaughter, and the regular publication of footage of poor practice at Australian abattoirs, poultry processors and knackeries,” the report said.
Export-registered abattoirs and poultry processors are regulated by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) and require the daily presence of an on-plant veterinarian and are subject to regular auditing.
However domestic abattoirs and knackeries operate under varying state and territory authority and generally do not require on-plant veterinarians, with the onus of reporting welfare concerns often falling to employees and members of the public.
First among the RSPCA report’s recommendations is the development of a national standard for livestock processors, applicable to cattle, sheep, goats, horses, pigs, deer, buffalo, camels, alpaca, donkeys, and poultry to replace the current, largely voluntary Model Code.
The welfare organisation is also calling for species-specific standards for all points of processing until confirmation of death, to be updated every five years to reflect technical and scientific advancements.
RSPCA Scientific Officer and former on-plant veterinarian Sarah Babington told The Veterinarian inconsistency between state and territory jurisdictions is a major hurdle for the industry.
“This is especially difficult when we have animals being transported between jurisdictions and different levels of regulation, and there are a lot of holes depending on where the animal is being slaughtered and transported from,” she said.
“There is a lack of transparency as to how many incidents are occurring on plants, if the states and territories are investigating, the nature of the actions and outcomes.”
Babington added that there needs to be clarity as to which breaches are being reported, how they are followed up, and how the industry improves following incidents.
“At the moment we don’t even know where we’re starting, so it’s very unclear,” she said.
SAM WORRAD