A NORTHERN Territory vet says Australia will be facing a “horrific” animal welfare problem due to the live export ban on cattle.
“The stance on live export will lead to horrific cruelty in Australia,” Gehan Jayawardhana said.
Mr Jayawardhana, who has spent 22 years as a research vet specialising in cattle production with the NT Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, has led a project looking at the relationship between stocking rate, number of weaning musters and cow death rate in the Victoria River District.
“The data from this project allows the quantification of the number of extra cows that will die per year if live export to Indonesia is banned and properties are unable to muster, supplement or turn off stock due to lowered income,” he said.
The vet said data showed that in a population of 2.5 million cows 250,000 cows and most of their calves would die “under horrific conditions” and the export ban would lead to “reduced welfare for the survivors and significant rangeland degradation”.
“In my opinion live export is vital for animal welfare in north Australia as large numbers of cows and calves starving to death causes far worse cruelty than that occurring in a minority of Indonesian abattoirs as shown on 4 Corners,” he said.
Member for Katherine, Willem Westra van Holthe said the cattle crisis was “far from being over”. The worst is yet to come. We will see cattle starving or being shot and cattlemen going to the wall,” he said.
“There will be a significant impact on the NT economy and I am worried about the welfare of our cattlemen and their families.
“We've seen the rate of rural suicides rise drastically down south due to hardship. I fear the same here.
“Cattlemen will do it hard between now and next April, which is when they could expect their first shipments out after the Wet. In the meantime, overstocking will lead to overgrazing and a new season of calves are due to be born soon, adding to the problem.”
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