Investigation launched into claims Australian cattle were slaughtered with sledgehammer in Vietnam

Australia’s live export trade is caught in a fresh controversy with claims cattle have been slaughtered with sledgehammers in Vietnam, reviving calls for trade to be suspended.

Animals Australia said it has obtained “shocking and distressing” video showing animals killed by having their skulls repeatedly smashed.

The animal rights group is yet to release the vision but lodged a complaint with the Agriculture Department earlier this month about the abattoir in Vietnam’s north.

“Animals Australia launched an investigation in the country after admissions by industry representatives in April that thousands of Australian cattle had been slaughtered outside approved supply chains,” a statement from the animal rights group said.

“The killing of cattle and buffalo through repeated blows to the head with a sledgehammer is the traditional method of slaughter in Vietnam.”

Vietnam has quickly grown to become Australia’s second largest live export market for cattle, with Animals Australia saying 178,000 animals were exported there last year.

Animals Australia said there have been eight complaints over the past two years about the killing of cattle in Vietnam.

Agriculture Department investigating three potential breaches

The Agriculture Department said it will investigate the animal rights group’s claims, along with three more self-reported breaches from March this year.

A spokesman for Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said the department had been closely monitoring the export of cattle to Vietnam since the March reports.

“[The department] is working with industry to ensure any problems are rectified and that the stringent animal welfare standards required are maintained,” the spokesman said in a statement.

“The department continues to seek information from other exporters in the region to determine whether further non-compliance … has occurred.”

It is unclear if the three reports to the department overlap with the Animals Australia case.

RSPCA calls for live cattle trade with Vietnam to be suspended

The RSPCA said there had been problems in Vietnam for some time.

“The Government is doing nothing to stop more cattle going into that market,” RSPCA chief scientist Bidda Jones said.

Australian animals are traced to their final slaughter destination under the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance Scheme.

The RSPCA said the scheme was not working for Vietnam and exports needed to stop until it could.

“This is a serious problem, we should not be allowing more cattle to be exported until these issues have been sorted out,” Dr Jones said.

“An assurance scheme that provides no assurance is not effective and not working.”

But the Minister’s statement said the Federal Government remains “totally committed” to the live export trade, and when problems arise the Government does not “shut down an entire industry”.

New rules will prevent use of sledgehammers: industry

Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council (ALEC) said it had identified the issue of Australian cattle leaving approved supply chains in Vietnam and ending up in “very basic slaughterhouses”.

The industry body said it is rolling out six tough new measures, including CCTV in Vietnamese feedlots and abattoirs.

“We have to stamp out any idea that it’s easy to remove livestock from our supply chains, we don’t stand for it,” ALEC chief executive Alison Penfold said.

“These new conditions that exporters put in place six weeks ago make it very clear to anyone who breaches our conditions they will not receive Australian livestock,” she said.

This post was originally published by ABC Online.

Should Australia be more responsible with its exports?