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Ban Live Export and Veganism

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Katie5 WA • Posts: 10

1 10 Aug 2011

I see lots of vegans posting on the FB page, etc about not wanting to promote veganism because it's just a 'personal dietary' choice. At the same, they think 'ban live export'is not a personal choice, but something that must be pushed.

I think the footage on 4 corners was horrible. However, meat, dairy, eggs and other uses of animals all involve the death and suffering of innocent creatures who have no say in their life. It is also completely unnecessary. The only reason humans do it is because they like the taste, or it is convenient, or because of traditions or religion.

If your choices deprive another of their life, then I think that their right to llive and enjoy their life should be favoured over a human's enjoyment of animal products.

I think we should all use this opportunity to embrace public concern for animals and ask them to go vegan which is the only way to stop contributing to the death and suffering of animals.

I appreciate that a lot of you probably feel very strongly in favour of ban. But a ban of live export can only lead to:
1. Animals being tortured and deprived of their life in Australia, and then sent as chilled 'meat' to Indonesia, etc (For an example of the kind of horrible stuff that happens in Australian slaughterhouses, see www.xeny.net/the%20silence%20of%20the%20lambs

2. Other animals, not from Australia, are sent to those countries live instead.

Neither of these options make a significant difference for the animals. And I don't care more if they are 'Australia' animals or not - it makes so difference to their suffering.

However, by promoting veganism we can get closer to a world where animals are not needlessly tortured by humans.

If you made the choice to go vegan, why would you not encourage others to also make this fantastic choice.

Killing an animal IS cruelty. Whether they are beaten then slaughtered, or just slaughtered. It is cruelty and we should all oppose it.

I hope to see others using this chance to promote veganism, like this great person did at a live export rally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgBWoLFTE9Y

If every person convinced one person to go vegan, and then they convinced one person to go vegan, we would have a vegan world in 7 years! Imagine that! Through my activism and vegan mentor program, I have helped lots of people to go vegan. You might not convince everyone, but for each person you convince that is a massive step forward. You instantly reduce demand for all those cruel products.

And we are one step closer to a truly cruelty-free world happy

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Pegs VIC • Posts: 1538

2 10 Aug 2011

Me like that dude happy

Mean people wear fur QLD • Posts: 1087

3 10 Aug 2011

This is true, but the Live Export rallies are drawing a lot of attention and I know of people who went Vegan after seeing the footage on 4 corners. It's promoting awareness, which I personally think is great.

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birdie VIC • Posts: 393

4 10 Aug 2011

2. Other animals, not from Australia, are sent to those countries live instead.

i like your post and i think that you make fair comments but regardless of what practices other countries choose to do.. its not just about animals being equal in suffering no matter their location.. we should always been concerned with what legislation we allow in our homeland.. our actions are our responsibility.. even if it doesn't make a huge difference according to the info you've found.. i still think its importance shouldn't be underestimated.. unfortunately not everyone has the same level of compassion for animals.. so some sort of standard needs to be set and hopefully things only improve from this point onwards..

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Jesse VIC • Posts: 1117

5 10 Aug 2011

Hi Katie5,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. We share your passion for inspiring others to make cruelty-free choices. This website and forum for example were established to inspire young people to make cruelty-free choices, such as going vegan: http://www.unleashed.org.au/change_the_world/

The specific goal of the current campaign (and rally) is to end the atrocious live export trade. Right now we must take advantage of the unique opportunities we presently have to create significant change on the issue of live export, which requires strategies which are unique to this campaign. Were we rallying for a different campaign we would employ different tactics, which is why it is critical that we remain on-topic. We value your passion for helping animals but we would encourage all who attend the rally on 14th to stay on topic and not diffuse the focus of this campaign -- to have the greatest hope of preventing anymore animals from going through what Bill went through: http://banliveexport.com/1/#bill

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Katie5 WA • Posts: 10

6 10 Aug 2011

**Pegs - Thanks

**Mean people wear fur - I think the issue is great to the extent that it can make people challenge their notions of about animals and consider veganism. However, I think it is very unfortunate that AA has not used this opportunity to really talk about veganism. By promoting a ban, AA are telling people that the slaughter of animals is okay, just as long as it's not done in a certain way (i.e. with live export and further abuse). I think most people would be horrified by what happens in Australian slaughterhouses, dairies etc. Unfortunately AA's campaign doesn't really challenge this. Although I think when they do promote veganism (well they call it "veg") or are anti-dairy, they are absolutely fantastic and I applaud this work.

**birdie - Why should it matter more what happens in Australia and what happens in other countries? This is a strange human phenomemon. One death in Australia is worth a hundred thousand deaths in a "third world" country it seems. I agree it makes sense to focus on the country you live in as it is easier to do activism but all of those animals deserve equal recognition. The most important thing is for vegans to promote veganism and build coalitions with other vegan groups overseas so we can unite into one movement. And this doesn't depend on legislation - it depends on everyone making the decision to not exploit other animals.

**Jesse - If you read my post you'd see I argue that ban live export is not actually a 'gain' for animals - rather it reinforces notions that:
1. Slaughter is Australia is good, or a victory for animals (if chilled meat is sent); or
2. Australian animals matter more than others (if non-Australian animals are instead sent to feed demand)
I think neither of these are good options. Also this campaign has encouraged a lot of culture-blaiming and xenophobia e.g. "Those Indonesians are so barbaric! Us Aussies slaughter em right!". The 4 corners special said again and again "Australian cows" - as though that makes a difference in their level of suffering.

I think all the vegans should be united, that is in taking a stand against the unnecessary suffering and death of animals (which is veganism). It seems pretty confusing for a vegan to say it is okay for animals to be slaughtered. If they thought that, why are they vegan?

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z1 VIC • Posts: 535

7 10 Aug 2011

Katie, are you an abolitionist? Because Animals Australia are not an abolitionist organisation.
Vegetarians are welcome here.
That might solve any confusion you may have.

+ 3

Katie5 WA • Posts: 10

8 10 Aug 2011

I am not confused. I know AA is not abolitionist.

I was merely pointing out how it is weird that people who oppose animal slaughter in their daily lives telll others it is okay to slaughter animals, it just depends on how it is done.

I know vegetarians are welcome - everyone should be welcome as long as they're not abusing others or using hate speech, etc.

+ 1

OinkMoo NSW • Posts: 1340

9 10 Aug 2011

completley agree with you Kaite5 ~ i couldnt of said it better myself. thanks for the links, they were interesting to watch/read

thanks for posting :3

+ 1

z1 VIC • Posts: 535

10 10 Aug 2011

Katie5 said:

I was merely pointing out how it is weird that people who oppose animal slaughter in their daily lives telll others it is okay to slaughter animals, it just depends on how it is done.

you see, those snide little stabs are the reason abolitionists fail to resonate with the public.

the issue was not whether it is ok to kill animals.
People who eat animals draw lines of what they consider acceptable treatment of animals. Indonesia crossed that line. A reasonable conclusion would be to ban live export.

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