九乡新闻网金华曙光高中:Struggling Australian farmer to shoot 3,000 c...
来源：百度文库 编辑：九乡新闻网 时间：2024/05/09 08:29:04
Struggling Australian farmer to shoot 3,000 cattle due to export suspension
15:42, July 05, 2011 
Email | Print | Subscribe | Comments | Forum 
Increases the bookmark 
twitter 
facebook 
digg 
Google 
Windowslive 
Delicious 
buzz 
friendfeed 
Linkedin 
diigo 
reddit 
stumbleupon 
QQ by Vienna MaOwners of a Western Australian cattle station on Tuesday said they are being forced to shoot about 3,000 cattle in the wake of the ban on live exports to Indonesia.
Last month, Australian federal Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig announced to suspend all live exports to Indonesia until the welfare of cattle can be guaranteed. This came following the release of a footage showing Australian cattle being tortured in Indonesian slaughterhouses.
As a result of the suspension, at least 150,000 ready-to-export cattle have been stranded across Australia, with animal exporters saying that the suspension has hurt the industry badly.
According to Nico Botha, of Moola Bulla station in Western Australia, he will start killing the animals as soon as Wednesday because he cannot afford to keep them alive.
"Rather than let them starve to death over two or three months, I'm going to shoot them quickly," he told News Limited on Tuesday, adding that there are currently 25,000 head of cattle on his property.
"My property is over-grazed and I have got too many cattle, I have to look forward to the next year or two."
He accused the federal government's suspension decision has created the biggest animal welfare issue in the history of Australia.
The Western Australian Pastoralists and Graziers Association (PGA) president Rob Gillam agrees, saying that station owners who are struggling are trying to send a message to the federal government.
"I just hope it doesn't take place but I think this is really a signal of the frustration that people are now beginning to feel," Gillam said.
"In this particular case, Nico is thinking 'well, I've got nowhere else to go'."
Meanwhile, Nationals deputy leader Nigel Scullion, who has just returned from a three-day visit to Indonesia to talk to industry figures about the suspension, said the growing number of cattle stranded in Australia is creating an animal welfare crisis at home.
He warned of the federal government may have to spend much more on mental health assistance for Australian farmers before the issue is resolved.
"(It's) 128,136 U.S. dollars a day worth of cattle he'll be shooting," he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
"This particular crisis is going to be a crisis in human terms."
"I don't know how (farmers) are going to recover from it now, let alone how they're going to recover as the weeks roll out."
Indonesia and Australia are yet to agree on mutual slaughter standards, and Australian Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig cannot predict when live exports to Indonesia will resume, with the suspension set to last anywhere up to November.
Last week, Australian federal government announced a 31 million U.S. dollars assistance package in a move to help business affected by the suspension of live cattle exports to Indonesia. However, farmers said the assistance is not enough, unless Prime Minister can resume the trade as soon as possible.
Source:Xinhua Related Reading
-
Cattle assistance package not enough: Australian farmers
-
Australian gov't provides aid package for cattle industry
-
Roundup: Australian gov't faces dilemma on live cattle export
-
Japan gov't to slaughter cattle to combat foot-and-mouth disease epidemic
-
Japan gov't to slaughter cattle to combat foot-and-mouth disease epidemic
-
80,000 cattle died in blizzard in Naqu, Tibet
-
Fifty cattle died of unidentified disease in mid-western Nepal
-
U.S. publishes final rule prohibiting processing of "downer" cattle
Special Coverage
Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Train now in Operation 
From drought to floods
-
Two SOEs top list of dream employers among grads
-
Fishing industry braces for oil-leak impact
-
China's old-age subsidies benefits 8 mln people
-
China has 7.3 mln hectares of reserve farmland
-
Senior Chinese leader highlights Sino-Franco cultural exchanges
-
Bulgarian Vice President congratulates China on achievements under CPC
-
Chinese capital eyes Brazil's high-tech sector
-
China cleans up raw milk industry
-
China backs worldwide fight against corruption
-
China's central government spends 6.17 bln yuan in purchasing, maintainning vehicles in 2010
Hot Forum Discussion-
Chairman Mao still living in the hearts Chinese
Sino-US Asia-Pacific consultation focus on South China Sea issue
China develops an M-1 tank killer
Costs rise in worst industrial disaster
NATO strike on civilian sites again?
Pakistan suicide raid, revenge for bin Laden?
Chaos in Beijing a perfect storm