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une 13, Online

Australian Deputy Secretary for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Phillip Glyde met with Indonesian Agriculture Deputy Minister Bayu Krisnamurti in Jakarta Monday to discuss alleged cruelty in the slaughtering of cattle in Indonesia.

A recent documentary, showing cattle being beaten and whipped before they were slaughtered at certain abattoirs in Indonesia, led to a public outcry and resulted in Australian authorities imposing a six-month ban on live cattle exports to Indonesia. Australia will also review its live export trade with all overseas markets. The impact of the ban was immediate in Indonesia, causing a hike in beef prices.

The government said that the ban should serve as impetus to expedite Indonesia’s efforts to become self-sufficient.

The meeting on Monday is expected to discuss avenues both countries can take to resolve the issue.

Your comments

I would like to believe that we all start from the view point that animals are God’s creatures and should be treated humanely.

ABC TV showed scenes of animals being slowly hacked to death over many minutes this is totally unacceptable and must come to an end.

Economically the humane slaughtering of cattle was very controlled, quick and efficient literally completed in seconds compared to the abattoirs shown on ABC TV which were grossly inefficient taking many minutes to slaughter just one animal and were very dangerous for the abattoir workers.

A move to humane slaughtering; animal upright, stunned and throat cut all almost in one action is humane, fast, lower cost and most importantly very safe for the workers — a win win for all concerned.

Don Mills
Sydney

We would like to express our deep apologies for how Indonesia and it’s people have been misrepresented in Australian Media.

Our thanks are for Indonesia’s collaboration in Surveillance for Foot and Mouth Disease in keeping the region FMD free.

Indonesia should be acknowledged for the significant improvements in Animal Welfare that have already occurred and it’s ability to develop world class feedlots.

We are guests in Indonesia and thank Indonesia for 20 years hospitality and receptiveness to Australians in the Meat Industry.

Christine
Western Australia