David Bramante
19 October 2007
Letters to the Editor, Weekly Times
I was bewildered at the fact that neither Doug Chant nor Brian Ahmed were willing to respond directly to the facts revealed in the Animal Liberation Youth website (www.animalliberationyouth.org)
If, for example, it is a lie that most animals raised for food never even see sunlight (or get to breathe air that is not polluted by the fumes of their own accumulating waste), why didn’t either of these individuals say so?
Throughout the entire article (and accompanying articles) I could not find one piece of evidence that proved ALY’s statements “misleading”. They just repeated that the statements were “false and misleading”, “not justified” and “false in their origin”, without ever backing up these comments with a trace of proof.
Perhaps “ninety-nine per cent of the population would say the information is ludicrous” but ninety-nine per cent of the population have also never been inside a filthy broiler-breeder farm or a battery egg farm.
And if we want to go on a tour of a farm, what exactly will we be shown? Certainly not the reeking bins overflowing with dead birds, or the pits full of dead pigs and piglets. Perhaps just the walls stained with the blood of impotent roosters will do.
Furthermore (and perhaps obviously), the welfare of animals is of concern to the farmer only to the extent that it affects the farmer financially.
Edwina Walker (a piggery accountant) states on the Australian Pork Limited website:
“Welfare of pigs is very important to us as pig producers, because a healthy pig is a pig that grows faster, eats more feed, and is a better product at the end of the day…
[But] if welfare standards go over the top, it will mean that it’s not worth being in business.”
And that is why over 95% of pigs in Australia are raised in the concentration camps we call factory farms; have their tails cut off and their teeth broken off, and are castrated, all without anaesthetic.
Sorry, Mr McGauran, what was that? Oh, of course, Australian farmers “care deeply for the welfare of their stock and strive at all times to provide the greatest care possible”.
Animal Liberation Youth enthusiastically supports veganism as the only solution to the ethical dilemma presented to us when we consider that some animals are valued as family members, while others are valued as sausages.
David Bramante
Concerned activist for Animal Liberation Youth
Vegan
Timothy Cole
22 October 2007
Letters to the Editor, Weekly Times
I am an activist with Animal Liberation Victoria responding to the “Farm Slur” (WT, October 17) article by Roslyn Lanigan.
Firstly, how can we be making a slur when the founder of the farming charity group “Aussie Helpers”, Brian Egan, is quoted on the ABC’s Water website as saying:
“I was on a property [in QLD] the other day and I think there was more dead sheep on the ground that(sic) live sheep and they just died through starvation.”
His words support our claim that sheep are simply being left to rot. And, it’s in strong contrast to Agriculture Minister Peter McGuaran’s claim that farmers, “care deeply for the welfare of their stock and strive at all times to provide the greatest care possible.”
Also, I’d like to make it clear that much of our information is based on what we see in farms.
I, for one, grew up in country Victoria witnessing animal cruelty on farms from an early age. Even though I live in Melbourne now I still see animal cruelty on farms, as many of us do in ALV. We document it regularly using video and still cameras, and if this practice was considered a methodology within a scientific context, what we see and record would be regarded as empirical evidence (that we freely make available to view), on which we base our claims.
Minister McGauran claims that an “ideological obsession blinds [us] to reality.”
Well, I would just like to inform the Minister that the ideology of farming animals is failing in a country - on a land - that simply cannot support the practice sustainably.
Truly beneficial farming, for animals and humans, would be fruit, vegetable and grain based; it would involve no animal cruelty and would, by far, be less of a strain on our precious resources, especially our dwindling water storages.
In my opinion, this seems like a far more sensible and realistic proposition.
Timothy Cole
Animal Liberation Victoria
References:
2006, The Country Hour, Surviving the Drought – Around the Country - ed. Leigh Radford:
OCTOBER 17
ALY Grabs News Headline
Animal Liberation Youth made the front page of the largest rural newspaper in the nation, with animal abusers furious that we're exposing the truth.
he launch of the Animal Liberation Youth website was front-page news on the Weekly Times - a newspaper with a circulation in excess of 70,000 readers. The huge headline read:
"FARM SLUR – Activists Spread Vicious Message'
We were also the focus of the paper's editorial which tried to slam ALY. We couldn't be happier! This was a fantastic way to let the public know about ALY and our efforts to fight animal abuse.
Since the article was published we have been getting a tonne of calls and e-mails, many from angry animal factory farmers (we told them we love farmers, it's animal abuse we have a problem with), but also many from people saying good onya for speaking out against animal exploitation, and wanting to get involved.
This is a great opportunity to counter the comments in the article with some of the facts about
what happens to animals
on factory farms
For example the article says
"[Animal Liberation Youth] claims that most animals raised for food never see sunlight"
Just like all our other information, this is true.
Of all animals raised for food, chickens – both broiler and battery – form the largest portion. They are raised in sheds and never see the sun – battery chickens are crammed in so tight they can barely turn around. For more information on the truth about factory farms, check out the issues boxes at the bottom of the www.alv.org.au homepage.
If you want to respond to the inaccuracies of the article, you can hit the editors up on wtimes@hwt.newsltd.com.au. Send us a copy of your letters and we'll publish some of the best.
Of course, the nicest thing about this article is that it shows that we are having an effect. Their attacks show they are running scared.
The industries that profit from animal abuse are threatened by ALY and our campaigns to inform the public about the cruelty that goes on behind factory farm and slaughterhouse walls
Even Federal Agricultural Minister Peter McGauran, more accurately the Federal Minister for Animal Abuse, had a go at ALY:
"[the ALY website is] typical of the distorted and alarmist propaganda of animal rights groups. Australian farmers care deeply for the welfare of their stock and strive at all times to provide the greatest care possible."
This from the minister who continues to support the horrific live export trade.
The same minister who famously called for a debate on whether sheep suffer when they have their throats cut while fully conscious, taking up to 20 second to bleed to death!
If the animal abuse industries are worried by what we've done so far, wait till they see what's coming!
 Animal Liberation YOUTH |
The article that appeared in the Weekly Times:
FARM SLUR
Activists spread vicious message
By ROSLYN LANIGAN The Weekly Times, 17 October 2007
ANIMAL activists are telling young people that farmers are leaving sheep to die in the drought. The slur is part of an unprecedented push for youth to shun meat, eggs and dairy products.
Animal Liberation Youth, launched earlier this month as an offshoot of Animal Liberation Victoria, wants people aged 13 to 25 to ``change the world'' by becoming vegan.
In a series of attacks on Australian farming practices, the group's website claims sheep are ``left to rot'' in times of drought ``since the farmer doesn't want to waste money on food or water''.
It says the world ``wouldn't have a climate problem'' if everyone was vegan.
ALY's website hits visitors with a barrage of graphic images and information, including pictures of chicks in a blender and an animal activist drinking from a fibreglass cow.
It also claims:
* Male chicks are ``thrown into industrial blenders and mashed'' because they are of no use to the egg industry. * Most animals raised for food never see sunlight. * Up to 90 per cent of chickens kept for egg production have broken bones. * Dairy cows are now more susceptible to diseases such as mastitis and milk fever ``due to `selective breeding' and ... genetic manipulation''.
The website calls on youth to reject products made with fur, wool, leather or silk and to boycott school science classes involving animal dissection.
Young people are enticed with the offer of free concert tickets, interviews with "animal-friendly'' bands and youth merchandise.
The website labels vegetarianism a "soft'' approach and says veganism is the only "true cruelty-free lifestyle''.
It offers links to other Animal Liberation Victoria websites, including a parody of the RSPCA website which claims "RSPCA management fails animals despite the hard work of volunteers''.
The push for youth has angered farm groups, who say information on ALY's website is false and misleading.
United Dairy farmers of Victoria president Doug Chant said ALY was making "accusations that are quite clearly false in their origin''. "Ninety-nine per cent of the population would say the information is ludicrous but kids are quite receptive to what is put before them,'' Mr Chant said.
"What sort of impression is this false, inaccurate information giving to those kids for the future?''
He said farmers were struggling through drought and, in many cases, were putting the needs of their animals ahead of their own.
"Farmers are going into huge debt, at a level that no one else in society would go through, just to look after their animals," Mr Chant said.
"These people (ALY) are not making any commitment to the care of animals, they're just making accusations."
Victorian Farmers Federation egg group president Brian Ahmen said ALY's criticism of the egg industry was "not justified".
"I don't know where they've even got their information and figures from," Mr Ahmed said
"It has obviously been written by someone who has very little knowledge of the egg industry and how it operates."
But ALY co-ordinator Jamie Yew said information on the group's website gave a fair and accurate picture of Australian farming.
Ms Yew said the information came from "all sorts of sources", including ALY's own investigations.
"A lot of the information we get is what we see first-hand," she said.
Federal Agricultural Minister Peter Mc Gauran said the ALY website was typical of the distorted and alarmist propaganda of Animal rights gropus.
"Australian farmers care deeply for the welfare of their stock and strive at all times to provide the greatest care possible" Mr McGauran said. "It is only extremists who can't or wont see this because their ideological obsession blinds them to reality."
Mr Chant called for an overview of agricultural industries to become part of the education curriculum.
"The United Dairy Farmers would very much like to work with the Education Department and the (Victorian) Government to help give school students the true picture of how our animals are looked after."
He said. "students could come out on to a farm and see what life is like on a farm rather than listen to these ill-informed groups.
Meanwhile, the Australian Farmers Fighting Fund is set to back an appeal against animal activist Ralph Hahnheuser - etc, etc.)
[Then there's an insert story, within the article]
Schools focus for recruiting drive
Animal Liberation Youth will boost its profile by targeting young people in schools and universities.
ALY co-ordinator Jamie Yew told The Weekly Times the new youth-focused animal liberation network hoped to expand its membership by setting up groups in Australian educational institutions.
She said ALY would also use "animal-friendly celebrities' to encourage youth to reject meat, dairy, eggs and animal fibres.
"We'll also be setting up stalls at gigs and festivals throughout the country," Ms Yew said.
"Young people are naturally really inquisitive and we're giving them the opportunity to make informed decisions."
Ms Yew said ALY had enjoyed a "really overwhelming and positive" response since the group's launch two weeks ago.
She said 'thousands' of young people had already signed up to the group's email distribution list.
"We see young people as being our future," Ms Yew said.
"We're not trying to force people to go vegan - although that is the aim - but it's up to them to make the decision they think is right."