Aussie Farms and Animals WithinHorrific undercover footage has emerged from a Sydney slaughterhouse, showing pigs and goats being forced into carbon dioxide gas chambers.
The video was taken on a hidden body camera by a university student who was on placement at an abattoir in the city.
Animal rights activists Aussie Farms and Animals Within released the graphic footage which shows a pig being shot at least eight times, and workers appearing to twist cows’ tails to force them to walk into a knockbox.
WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC CONTENT:
As per MailOnline, executive director of Aussie Farms and director of controversial documentary Dominion Chris Delforce said:
This is some of the most damning Australian footage I’ve ever seen, and yet, it’s completely legal.
There are very minimal laws in place to protect animals in facilities like these, which is the complete opposite to what most consumers are led to believe.
While there’s a general offence for animal cruelty in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act NSW, farms and slaughterhouses are exempt from this if they follow basic codes of practice which effectively legalise cruelty that regular citizens wouldn’t be able to get away with.
The code of practice relating to slaughterhouses is only a model code, intended as non-enforceable guidelines for states and territories to develop their own legislation, but 18 years later none have done so.
Aussie Farms and Animals WithinDelforce said even if a company is found to be engaging in cruelty not permitted under the codes of practice, the maximum penalty under POCTA is $27,000.
Meanwhile, the NSW Government is attempting to crack down on militant activists who trespass on farms or slaughterhouses in a bid to try and expose cruelty by introducing fines of up to $220,000 and a jail term of up to three years.
Delforce added:
It’s almost beyond comprehension that the act of jumping a fence to merely film animal abuse is somehow considered worse than committing it.
However, this new footage was obtained not by trespass, and not in breach of any biosecurity protocols – so would not be covered by these new laws.
Aussie Farms and Animals WithinThe activist had a strong message for deputy premier John Barilaro and NSW minister for agriculture Adam Marshall.
He said:
If (they) want to bring in ag-gag laws on behalf the industry to stifle exposure of animal agriculture facilities, they’re going to have to start being honest about it.
Stop hiding behind these smokescreens, otherwise activists will continue to find ways to show the public the reality of what they’re being told is ‘humane’ and ‘ethical’.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.