Department of Agriculture bans live cattle export to 6 Vietnamese abattoirs

Activism by Animals Australia in doing undercover surveillance of abattoirs in countries that import live Australian animals has paid off. The Department of Agriculture banned the export of live cattle to six slaughterhouses in Vietnam that use sledgehammers to kill the animals.

The department has suspended indefinitely supply of cattle to six Vietnamese facilities based on a complaint from the animal rights group, on top of voluntary ban by livestock exporters in Australia. In addition to that, the department has suspended supply of live cattle to 10 other abattoirs which had previously been approved to process Australian cattle and a feedlot in Phy Xuyen, reports WestBusiness.

It also restored in the prohibition list another Haiphong feedlot, Animex, one of Vietnam’s largest live cattle exporters. Animex, which owns the Haiphong feedlot, reportedly has been blacklisted by Aussie authorities.

Following the expose by Animals Australia, the Australian Livestock Exporters Council (ALEC) applied last week a voluntary industry ban on Animex. With the sledgehammer accusation, there would be pressure on ALEC members to agree to random independent monitoring of CCTV footage from slaughterhouses in Vietnam since only three of eight exports use an independent service to monitor footage.

After a review of the footage presented by Animals Australia, the department has determined there is enough evidence that the cattle being bludgeoned by butchers came from Australia. The abattoirs are not following the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System mandated by Australia in terms of control, traceability and animal welfare requirements, a spokesman of the department says.

However, Greens candidate for Page Kudra Falla-Ricketts finds the government’s response insufficient. She says the existing procedures to ensure humane treatment of animals exported from Australia in disarray and stopping export to the six slaughterhouses is an inadequate response.

“Live exports need to be phased out completely, a move that would revitalize the meat processing industry inside Australia and create jobs,” Echo.net.au quotes Falla-Ricketts.

VIDEO: Australian live export cattle bludgeoned to death with sledgehammers in Vietnam