ABC News Australia, 7 January 2013
PHOTO: Workers unload cattle by using ropes hanging around their necks in Surabaya, East Java. (AFP: Juni Kriswanto) |
Animal
rights activists have denounced the "cruel" treatment of cattle in
Indonesia after pictures emerged of cows being lifted by a crane from ropes
tied to their heads.
It is
another blow to the country's reputation for dealing with livestock following
international criticism in 2011 when the ABC's Four Corners program aired footage of Indonesian abattoir workers torturing cows shipped from Australia.
The scandal
prompted the Government to suspend live exports to Indonesia for a month.
In the
latest pictures, taken by an AFP photographer, a crane is shown transferring
three bony cows from a boat in the eastern Javanese city of Surabaya using a
loop of rope around their skulls.
Another
photograph shows seven live cows being lifted in a similar fashion in one
group, with their necks outstretched.
The boat
transporting the cattle had come from Sumbawa island, around 500 kilometres
east of Surabaya, but it is not clear whether that is where the cattle were
reared.
The cattle
were to be transported to the capital Jakarta, according to a worker in the
operation who declined to give his name.
It is not
known which company was transporting the cattle.
While a
large number of cattle are transported around Indonesia, an archipelago of more
than 17,000 islands, it is not normal practice to lift animals up by their
heads.
"It is
crazy that cruel practices are still happening," Jakarta Animal Aid
Network campaigner Benvika told AFP.
Indonesian
Veterinary Association chairwoman Wiwiek Bagja said animal welfare laws in
effect since 2009 did not work because they do not actually lay out what
punishments people should face for animal cruelty.
"In
short, Indonesia is very far from implementing and enforcing the law," she
said.
PHOTO: 'Cruel practice': seven cattle being lifted by ropes. (AFP: Juni Kriswanto) |
No comments:
Post a Comment