31 May 2011
This morning RSPCA, Animals Australia and GetUp, who are working together on a campaign to end live animal exports, confirmed that all three organisations’ websites have crashed under huge demand, with up to two thousands visitors per minute accessing the sites.
The campaign follows ABC’s Four Corners program last night, which showed graphic footage taken by Animals Australia investigators in Indonesian abattoirs.
“We’ve seen over 35,000 Australians sign a petition against live exports in just five hours this morning,” said GetUp National Director Simon Sheikh. “It’s the fastest growing petition I’ve ever seen.”
"There is an overwhelming number of Australians wanting to take action and end live exports, "said RSPCA Chief Scientist, Dr Bidda Jones. "Anyone who has seen the footage uncovered in Indonesian slaughterhouses would be appalled by the brutal treatment of Australian cattle, cruelty sanctioned by Australia's live exporters. The next shipment of Australian cattle is due to leave Australia for Indonesia shortly - the Gillard government must act to protect these animals by announcing an immediate halt to the live trade to Indonesia.”
"MLA and Livecorp have been deliberately deceiving farmers to ensure supply of animals and misrepresenting their work to the government to maintain support for the trade. It has never been clearer that this is not a trade worthy of government backing," said Animals Australia investigator, Lyn White.
Images and video footage from the Indonesia investigation:http://www.animalsaustralia-media.org/upload/photos/indonesian-live-export-investigation/ GetUp’s petition on live animal export: http://www.getup.org.au/campaigns/animals/live-export/
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