Disadvantages Of Live Animal Export: Business Ethics And Sustainability Assurance

Longest journey

Discuss about the Business Ethics and Sustainability Assurance.

Every year Australia exports more than 3 million live animals such as sheep, cattle and goats. The animals are exported and shipped in a critical distressed condition that results in death and illness for a significant condition. The animals are then slaughtered in the countries without any adequate laws and protections against the cruelty. The report will focus on the disadvantages of the export of animals. Apart from having disadvantages, the live animal export industry are considered as the Australian industry that has the worth $800 million every year as it is responsible for supporting the livelihood of the regional and rural people. The animals that are exported to the different countries are witnessing many problems that are discussed in the study. The 21,000 sheep are killed in the year of 2012 due to many incident of the transportation of the livestock from Australia to other Asian countries. However, it can be said that until now Australian livestock export is considered as the largest export market in the world. The cruelty of the slaughter of the animals should be banned in order to improve the condition of the livestock animals.

It can be said that every year many cattle, sheep and goats are slaughtered in the region of their export after sending them in the gruelling voyages.  The animals are sent into a destination where there are not enough lawsuits and regulations for protecting them in the perspective of cruelty during the time of slaughtering (Miranda-De La Lama et al. 2014). However, the disadvantages of the live animal export are described in the following.

The animals are not provided with ample foods and water before they are boarded in the ship. It causes stresses that are responsible for salmonellosis, bruising and dehydration in sheep along with respiratory diseases in cattle (MacDonald et al.2014).

As the animals are confined in the vessels, hence they are captive in that manner for 504 consecutive hours. Poor ventilation and high temperatures are responsible for causing heat stroke and other physiological ailments in some specific breeds along with cattle. Diets provided to the sheep are rejected by them that cause salmonellosis (Guyomard et al. 2013). Wastes of animal in the ship lead to formation of ammonia gas that is harmful for the animals causing irritation in respiratory tracts and nasal discharge (Deards et al. 2014). Apart from that, it is seen that many animals die in the transit every year due to the problems faced during the time of transport in the ship.

Indonesian outrage

In the Indonesian abattoirs, the Australian cattle are subjected to the gross cruelty in the time of slaughter. It is seen that the majority of the animals are exported in Indonesia while they are slaughtered and treated very brutally (Poppi 2014).  They sometimes use techniques that are responsible for the extreme injury and pain to them. It can be said that investigation portrays that the Australian government does not accept these types of treatments (Phillips and Petherick 2015).

Apart from having many regulations for reducing the harmful impact of the cruelty and brutal impacts of the effect of slaughter to the animals, they are not able to control the negative cruel impacts (Bradhurst et al. 2015). For regulation of the welfare of the Australian animals in various destination markets, an important law has been sanctioned in the country. Australian government implements the regulation Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS) for the welfare of the animals in terms of welfare standards, traceability and control in the independent auditing and supply chain (McCarthy et al. 2014).

The sentiments of the Australian consumers are important towards the behaviour of the traders and government to the animals. It is seen that the Australian people are sensitive and conscious to the social, environmental and ethical implications (Cordell et al. 2013). The Australian consumers are sensitive in nature regarding the brutal and cruel activities of the slaughter to the cattle and sheep. The media covers the issue that is responsible for creation of the sensitive issue in the minds of the consumers. It is high time the government to look after the condition of the brutality among the cattle and other animals so that the consumers of the Australia gradually changing their sentiments towards this issue. The disadvantages of the slaughtering of the animals are responsible for creating the issue of sentiments in the minds (Black 2013).

Transportation of livestock is important in the perspective of trading with the different countries. The government of Australia has set standards for the welfare of the animals during the time of transport. The standards are Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock (AESL). It is found that the penalties regarding breaching the law are not working properly (Goodfellow 2015). It can be said that Australia is considered as the largest exporter of live animals to various countries for slaughter. It is seen that every year billions of livestock animals such as goats, sheep, cattle, etc. are transported in sheep to countries like North Africa, South Africa, Philippines, Middle East, etc. In these countries animal welfare laws are not at all exists rather they are not active in a proper way. It results in death of many animals i.e. almost ten thousand animals before reaching to the destination of the export (Borta, L., 2013). Apart from that, the animals that are survived in the journey have to witness gruelling journey along with many horrific incidents when they are handled to the areas of slaughter.

Changing sentiments of Australian consumers

Both the traders and the slaughters of the different countries of export such as Asian countries have an expression of outrage towards the animals. They are involved in the profession of slaughtering of the cattle for a long time. The nature of brutality and cruelty is present due to the nature of the occupation they are involved (Qingshan 2015). Hence, it can be said that the outrage of the slaughterer and the traders are a great disadvantage in case of the export of animals to the different nations where the animals are treated brutally. The laws that are formulated for the protection of the imported animals of those countries are not competent enough to protect the cruelty of the traders (Pizzuti and Mirabelli 2016). It can be said that it is a inhuman activity that should be banned immediately.

As it is already discussed earlier that Australia is the largest exporter of livestock animals, hence in many parts of the countries the Australians are not getting enough meat and dairy products. It is due to the export of huge number of cattle from the country. Apart from this issue, it is also noticed that the quality of hybrid animals that are present in the country are not as high of those which are exported to other countries. This is also a point of concern for the government of Australia in meeting the demands of the food products within the country (Ciavaglia et al. 2013).

Export of the animals is responsible for reduction of the livestock in the country. Apart from that, there are problems faced by the local traders of the country in supplying dairy products of the country. However, it can be said that the consumers in many parts of Australia are not satisfied with the quality of the dairy products they buy from the market. Besides this, the traders of the country are facing issues in breeding with the cattle. They are not able to breed with different breeds of cattle in order to produce hybrid cattle that would produce huge amount of milk (Hay 2016). Reduction of domestic animals is a major issue for the country not only in terms of demand and supply but also for other economic aspects of the country.

Conclusion

Apart from having many advantages, there are disadvantages of the live export of the animals. It can be said that the Government of Australia has many regulations that are formulated for the prevention of the distressed condition of the livestock during the time of export. But it can be said that the regulations are not enough to stop the activities that affect the condition of the livestock. It can be concluded that many of the countries including United Kingdom and New Zealand are banning live export of animals so that they can maintain the balance of animals in the country itself along with maintenance of the demands of the dairy products in the country. The disadvantages of the livestock export of animals are not a point of ignorance. The negative effect of the different aspects of the export is responsible for causing deaths of many animals in the country.

References

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