Australia: RSPCA wants stunning exemptions killed
THE RSPCA is renewing calls for a ban on slaughter practices that don’t use stunning for sheep and cattle if the Government does not move to reform current exemptions granted for religious reasons.
THE RSPCA is renewing calls for a ban on slaughter practices that don’t use stunning for sheep and cattle if the Government does not move to reform current exemptions granted for religious reasons.
Australia has its first “Halal friendly pharmacy” that may herald a new niche in the competitive retail pharmacy market. A large segment of Muslim consumers are requesting medicines that are Halal.
The Halal economy is booming, with everything from food and cosmetics, to leisure products and holidays, being awarded Halal certification. The cost exceeds that of normal goods meaning consumers are paying to make a certain few millionaires. Video report.
Dr Temple Grandin has made humane treatment of cattle, her life’s work. She consults to Arrowsight in the US and has helped design over half of all the cattle abattoirs in North America. She says cameras have stopped false reporting by supervisors.
THE live export industry is facing fresh pressure to clean up its act with new vision of cruelty in Indonesian abattoirs uncovered by animal activists, despite strict new rules for exporters being in place for nearly six months.
Warren Farr, the sales manager of Brisbane-based stunning equipment supplier Kentmaster Australia, says arrangements were already in place with its Indonesian agent, Pt. Agro Giri Perkasa (AGP), to introduce mandatory preslaughter stunning as a supply requirement well before the Federal Government suspended the trade for a month based on Indonesian abattoir cruelty allegations.
In a speech to Parliament, backbencher Luke Simpkins said most Australians did not know that most of the meat they ate came from animals killed in accordance with Muslim law.
Exemptions that allow some Australian abattoirs to conduct ritual slaughters without prior stunning will continue, after the country’s agriculture ministers last week failed to resolve discussions on calls for their withdrawal.
Australia’s primary industries ministers tomorrow will discuss whether to ban religious exemptions from stunning animals at Australian abattoirs.
Holista Colltech, an Australian Stock Exchange listed company, extended the sponsorship to USM to produce the world’s first halal enzyme production process. The research is for an innovative process to enable plant-based enzymes to produce collagen and halal gelatine.
Sydney’s The Jewish House has launched its annual drive to collect food for the needy with a record 25 Coles Supermarkets participating across Sydney…and has introduced the al-Ghazzali Centre as a new partner for Halal food contributions for Muslims in need.
Being able to choose Halal when it comes to cosmetic purchases is still a relatively new concept with the vast majority of brands yet to celebrate their fifth birthday. So far it looks like Halal cosmetics fit very neatly (at least on a scientific level) alongside other Natural, Environmentally conscious, pure and animal-testing free cosmetic ranges. So do we need Halal personal care?
Senator Bernardi said he wanted labels on packaging to explain whether meat had been slaughtered according to rituals and whether stun guns were used.
The ball is now in the hands of the Indonesian Meat Producers and Feedlot Association who will work together with government officials from both countries, as well as the Meat and Livestock Australia to ensure best practices in Indonesian slaughterhouses.
”We will improve all of our abattoirs,” said Indonesia’s Co-ordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Hatta Rajasa at a joint press conference with Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd yesterday. ”We, of course, would welcome the use of new devices that meet the halal standard.
THE departing head of Meat and Livestock Australia has said he will co-operate with the Senate inquiry into the controversial live animal export trade and face questions about his company’s attempts to improve animal welfare conditions in Indonesia and other markets.
A WODONGA export abattoir says the Gillard government’s carbon tax could cost it up to $2 million a year, threatening jobs and its international competitiveness. As many as 30 frozen containers of Halal approved meat leave the abattoirs for the rest of the world each week.
AUSTRALIA should pressure its Islamic neighbours to end cruelty in the live cattle trade, a Territory Senator said yesterday. “We need a uniform interpretation of Islamic law across the region which takes account of basic animal welfare standards and modern technology.”