Suffering ‘caught on film’
by mahmood on 10/05/06 at 6:30 am · email · print
An animal rights group claims it has photographic evidence of animal suffering taken at Bahrain’s only licensed salughterhouse, during an investigation conducted last December.
People for the Ethnic Treatment of Animals (PETA), who funded the study, told the GDN yesterday that investigators were refused permission to film inside the slaughterhouse in Sitra, but witnessed cruelty outside in the feedlots.
“We have photographs of sheep lying dead in feedlots in Bahrain,” said PETA South Africa representative Andrew Baker by phone from Qatar yesterday.
“Sheep were already weak and suffering from illness and broken bones and unable to get into the shade without assistance and there was no vet on hand to aid their suffering.
“There is only one slaughterhouse, so without being able to get in, it’s difficult to show what’s happening there.
“But our experience in the region shows that conditions in slaughterhouses are dismal.
“Elsewhere, we find animals stabbed in the eye and tendons slashed and all the authorities say is that they follow all the requirements.
“I would welcome the opportunity to have an unannounced inspection of the facilities in Bahrain.”
Mr Baker said the footage taken in Bahrain also showed feedlot workers dragging animals, binding their feet together and putting them in car boots to be taken home for slaughtering.
Animals, he said, were not allowed to be harmed before slaughter according to the Sharia law, but this seemed to be unenforceable when people were taking them and slaughtering them at home.
The animal rights activist said he contacted the Municipalities and Agriculture Ministry to discuss the plight of the animals several times but had no response and recently asked the Bahrain Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) to look into the situation.
The GDN first revealed allegations of abuse in the Middle East on March 1, following a report by Animals Australia.
In March activists from the group only revealed cruelty in Egypt, Kuwait and Oman and said then they were still studying footage recorded in Bahrain and Qatar.
Bahrain Livestock Company chairman Ebrahim Zainal denied the reports in March, but refused to make a fresh comment yesterday.
Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) livestock services manager for the Middle East and Africa, Dr Nigel Brown, told the GDN yesterday that it was fair to say that some animals in feedlots die, but that the Bahrain Livestock Company had a vet on hand every day to provide medical aid and assistance.
“I was at the feedlots a week ago in Bahrain and there were no dead animals lying around and animals were well and under the shade,” said Dr Brown,
Dr Brown said with regards to animals being put into car boots for home slaughter, he said it was actually more reassuring for them to be put in a confined space and have their feet bound, rather than running around alone in a big van.
“How can you handle sheep? Either you are pulling them, or pushing them to get them in there,” he said.
“It’s common to bind their feet whether in Australia, or Europe. We bind their feet with soft rope so they can lay comfortably.”
Mr Baker and other PETA representatives are touring the Middle East as part of a campaign to highlight cruelty to animals and to ban live imports of livestock from Australia, the region’s biggest supplier.
They launched the campaign in Dubai earlier this week and are taking it to Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and Oman, but won’t be coming to Bahrain during this trip.
Mr Baker said PETA was very concerned about the rough handling, crowding and mistreatment of live animals exported from Australia to Bahrain and the Middle East, on a journey that took between 10 days and three weeks.
He said there was no need to transport live animals because there were 120 Halal-approved slaughterhouses in Australia and meat could easily be frozen and exported to the Middle East.
Dr Brown said animals exported from Australia had access to water and food at all times during the journey and the mortality rate was just half a per cent per year.
He said other exporters around the world had worse mortalities en route and they brought diseases such as ‘mad cow’ and tuberculosis, which Australian exporters did not have.
“We do export chilled and frozen meat to the Middle East, but many people still prefer to eat meat freshly slaughtered and that’s one of the reasons we supply live animals,” said Dr Brown.
“If we don’t, they will source animals from other countries that don’t have the same level of standards that we do.
“We are constantly trying to work with Bahrain and other exporters to raise animal welfare and that is our work here – to make better standards.”
GDN :: Rebecca Torr :: 10 May ’06
