I am still reeling after watching Four Corners on ABC last night - quality journalism at its best, but which I had to stop watching halfway through, as it showed such graphic and horrific pictures of Australian cattle being tortured in Indonesian abattoirs.
I come from a farm, and grew up watching my dad slaughter our sheep by slitting their throats quickly and humanely. The sheep never knew what was coming and it was all over in seconds. My dad, who is now retired, did not like having to kill animals, but it is part and parcel of being a farmer. At least we knew where the meat on our plates came from and the animal had died in a humane way.
Often, dad would have to kill an injured animal to put it out of its suffering, or if a sheepdog had gone bad and started tormenting sheep.
Like most Aussie farmers, at least those who have largescale commercial farms, we would have sent sheep off to the Middle East or other Muslim countries as part of the live animal trade, where they would be slaughtered according to Muslim beliefs, in a halal manner.
I don't know much about what this entails. I think the animal is bled to death. But surely whatever practices a halal death involve, it should not mean the death has is prolonged nor that the animal is tormented and treated badly in its final moments.
People say sheep are stupid, but that's just not true and I suspect the same applies to cattle. One farmer on last night's report said Brahmain cattle are very trusting of humans who treat them well, but quickly learn to be wary if the opposite is the case.
I've had pet sheep act similarly to pet dogs. When my son was a baby, two of my pet sheep would follow us down the road with our dog when I took my son for a walk in his pram. It was a somewhat comical look and very cute. They would come when I called their names, and loved to be patted and fussed over. I lost them when they got older - our neighbours had their sheep yards close to our house and were yarding a mob of sheep to be trucked out. I hope my sheep joined a mob in a nearby paddock and not those in the yards.
It is disturbing to think some of our animals may have suffered horribly in their deaths. A previous expose apparently temporarily stopped the trade to the Middle East and now Agriculture Minister Senator Ludwig has quickly announced a halt to the 11 abattoirs mentioned in last night's report. Thank goodness for that, and thank goodness for quality journalism and the individuals and groups who went out on a limb to expose these horrific practices to the public.
Indonesia must lift its game and improve the way livestock to be slaughtered are treated. Nothing less is acceptable and Australian farmers must bear the costs until this happens.