Indonesian slaughter laws are given from God in heaven and therefore it can't stop abattoir torture.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indonesian-slaughter-laws-cant-stop-abattoir-torture/story-fn59niix-1226067530577 Indonesian slaughter laws can't stop abattoir torture Peter Alford, Jakarta correspondent From: The Australian June 02, 2011 12:00AM Production manager Jonet Rusmargono examines Australian cattle at the Dharma Jaya abattoir in East Java yesterday. Picture: Oka Budhee Source: The Australian Stay calm about cattle deaths Nats MP Watch Stay calm about cattle deaths Nats MP A Nationals MP has called for a calm response to claims that live exports to Indonesia are being mistreated. Play 0:00 / 1:57 Scrubber mute Share Fullscreen INDONESIA outlawed the brutal methods used in 11 abattoirs now banned from receiving live cattle nearly two years ago but failed to enforce the laws - inaction that now threatens the future of live exports to the nation. As fears mount in Indonesia that Australia could end the trade in live cattle, senior religious figures and officials from the country's meat industry have condemned the inhumane treatment of the animals revealed this week. But Australia's ban on exports to the blacklisted abattoirs seems ineffective so far, with at least one large shipment of cattle leaving Darwin last night aboard the Hereford Express, bound for the Javanese port of Cilacap. The Australian understands another vessel full of cattle, the Sahiwal Express, is to depart Broome tonight, also bound for Indonesia. Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig confirmed the government was, at this stage, forced to rely on "written assurances" from exporters that Australian cattle would not make their way to 11 Indonesian abattoirs identified as using brutal killing methods and torture. . Senator Ludwig said the government was racing to put in place orders that enforced the suspension of exports of livestock to the identified abattoirs as quickly as possible, but would not outline what checks were in place. Jonet Rusmargono, production manager of the Dharma Jaya beef abattoir in East Jakarta, which slaughters Australian cattle under halal conditions, agreed the cruelty exposed by ABC's Four Corners was unacceptable - and also bad practice economically because bruised beef gained lower prices from traders. "Of course it is against our religion," Mr Jonet said. "We are taught ishan (best behaviour): the animal should not be in pain and it should be killed with one cut. "But (the slaughterers) are not well-educated. We cannot appeal to them about animal welfare, themselves they are very poor, so we have to appeal to them about the economic effects." The Indonesian Farm and Animal Welfare Law was passed in the national parliament at least 18 months ago, outlawing the type of brutality that prompted the Australian ban, but there are still no supporting regulations. "We have a law covering animal welfare but if the law is disobeyed there are no sanctions because the regulations haven't been drawn up," said Thomas Sembiring, chairman of the Indonesian Meat Importers Association (Aspidi). Mr Sembiring's group wants the Indonesian government to promise immediately to clean up and effectively regulate the 100-odd slaughterhouses that kill imported cattle. He is afraid public outrage in Australia over routine animal cruelty in some Indonesian abattoirs will produce a political decision in Canberra to ban the entire live trade. "The issue of animal welfare (in abattoirs) has not been dominant here before because we haven't seen this threat before," Mr Sembiring said. The chairman of the Indonesian Ulama Council's fatwa commission, which may pronounce on whether the cruel practices are against religious law, said yesterday it appeared meat from the abattoirs was halal (lawful), but the behaviour was sinful. "If the animal is still alive when it is slaughtered, according to Islamic law it is halal," said Professor Hasanuddin AF. "But the acts of violence to the cattle are the sin of the person doing them." The Animals Australia investigator, former policewoman Lyn White, who played a large role in the Four Corners expose on Monday night, said she had no doubt that the cruelty to cattle would be the same wherever they were taken in Indonesia. "Anywhere, except for the four facilities that are using stunning procedures, animals are going to be brutalised," Ms White said. "It's just absolutely horrendous that the government would continue to allow these animals to be loaded." An Australian ban on live cattle exports would have serious implications for Indonesian food prices and inflation. It could also cripple the Indonesian feedlot industry, which has previously tried without success to find alternative and cheaper supply sources to Australia, and cause knock-on damage to the domestic processed meat business. Australian cattle imported for fattening and local slaughter accounted for about 20 per cent of Indonesian beef consumption last year, Mr Sembiring said. Australian-killed meat made up another 7 per cent. With the month-long period of Ramadan now barely two months away, the prospect of even a temporary suspension of live cattle supplies is causing tremors in Indonesian markets. Although observant Muslims fast during daylight hours, the tradition of lavish evening meals always tightens supplies of premium food and raises prices. With Indonesian law requiring imported cattle to be in the country at least 60 days before slaughter, the risk of supply interruption at Ramadan is already looming. Although some beef industry officials claim to be confident the Australian government won't put at risk a $300 million-a-year industry, Mr Sembiring was not so sure. He called for the Agriculture Ministry to take action against offending abattoirs to avert the risk of drastic Australian action. The ministry's livestock department chief, Prabowo Respatiyo Caturroso, told AFP yesterday that officials would check the 11 slaughterhouses banned by Australia. "We'll punish those proven to have committed animal cruelty," he said. But he conceded there were no regulations in Indonesian law that could be used to sanction abattoirs found to have abused animals. He also admitted there were no regulations in place to punish individual offenders. However, Mr Sembiring added that most Indonesian abattoirs were owned by local governments and adhered to international standards. Only a "very low percentage" used the cruel practices that were screened on Australian television on Monday. However, Mr Jonet said Indonesian slaughterhouses were reluctant to use stunning, the most humane method of quieting animals about to be killed, because of the cost and because some Indonesian communities believed that meat from stunned cattle was not halal. Killing a beast after stunning raised the total cost of slaughter from 38,000 rupiah ($4.22) to as much as Rp150,000. Additional reporting: Emmy Zumaidar, Lanai Vasek, Mark Schliebs [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: prole...@egroups.com Subscribe : proletar-subscr...@egroups.com Unsubscribe : proletar-unsubscr...@egroups.com List owner : proletar-ow...@egroups.com Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: proletar-dig...@yahoogroups.com proletar-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: proletar-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
