Valuing animals more than people

Perhaps more importantly, what does it say about our priorities as a nation that we should seek to impose our standards of animal welfare on other countries under the ESCAS system while saying nothing about issues that scream out for attention, such as the oppression of women and persecution of Christians?

While there are international treaties that assert human rights are universal and should not be subject to cultural interpretation, that is not the case with animal welfare. Cultural differences are hugely important.

Both the halal and kosher methods for slaughtering sheep, for example, consist of using a well-sharpened knife to make a swift, deep incision that cuts the front of the throat, the carotid artery, windpipe, and jugular veins. There is no prior stunning. That, and images of animals being bled (consumption of blood is not permissible in either case) appals Animals Australia.

Similarly, Animals Australia considers images of sheep being dragged by their legs and stuffed into car boots as evidence of outrageous cruelty, despite it being not much different from what occurs in every shearing shed in Australia. Nobody seems to have explained to them that sheep are not good at walking on a lead.

There are undoubtedly instances of cruelty to animals in our export markets and we should obviously seek every opportunity to convince our export customers not to be cruel. A bit of information and education can often go a long way.

But the ability to use our influence is diminished by a holier-than-thou approach that assumes our animal welfare standards are universal when that is clearly not the case. Moreover, a disproportionate focus on animal welfare relative to concern for human welfare is just plain wrong.

Both the government and the ABC ought to stop allowing Animals Australia to set their priorities. Animal welfare is important, but not something we should seek to impose on our customers while we show such little interest in human welfare.