Animals Australia
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Animals Australia is an Australian animal protection organisation. Its aim is to investigate and expose
animal cruelty Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction by omission (neglect) or by commission by humans of suffering or harm upon non-human animals. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm or su ...
, inspire kindness to animals through public awareness campaigns—particularly focused on farmed animals—and provide funding and support to other animal organisations where appropriate, for example in emergency response during the 2019/2020 Australian Black Summer bushfires and
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. Animals Australia's organisational vision is "a world where kindness, compassion and respect extend to all living beings. We shine a light in the darkness and illuminate the pathway to a kinder world for all." Animals Australia is a registered charity, funded entirely by members of the public, and was previously one of
Animal Charity Evaluators Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE), formerly known as Effective Animal Activism (EAA), is a US-based charity evaluator and effective altruism-focused nonprofit founded in 2012. ACE evaluates animal charities and compares the effectiveness of their d ...
Standout Charities.


History

Animals Australia formed in 1980, originally as the Australian Federation of Animal Societies, founded by
Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher, currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a Secularit ...
and Christine Townend. Animal protection groups in
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
were invited to join in 1986 and the organisation became the Australian and New Zealand Federation of Animal Societies. This formal Australian-New Zealand association ceased in 2005 and the federation now only uses the name "Animals Australia"—the name adopted as an Australian trading name in the late 1990s. Animals Australia representatives have contributed to Government enquiries and animal welfare law reform since the 1980s, and currently serve on State 'Animal Welfare Advisory Committees' and the Australian Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (AusAWAC).


Campaigns

Animals Australia conducts investigations and public awareness campaigns on a range of animal welfare issues, including
rodeos Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...
, horse racing, the fur trade,
animal testing Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and ''in vivo'' testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments that seek to control the variables that affect the behavior or biological system under study. This ...
, the dairy industry, fishing, flying fox conservation, kangaroo shooting, exotic animal circuses, sheared sheep,
mulesing Mulesing is the removal of strips of wool-bearing skin from around the breech (buttocks) of a sheep to prevent the parasitic infection flystrike (myiasis). The wool around the buttocks can retain feces and urine, which attracts flies. The scar t ...
, duck shooting, puppy farms and greyhound racing. However they are most noted for their major work towards ending factory farming, the live export trade, greyhound racing, and "legalised cruelty" to farmed animals. Their subsidiary group for young animal advocates between the ages 13–26 is Animals Australia Unleashed. Animals International is the global arm of Animals Australia. Established in 2014, Animals Australia campaigners have provided international colleague groups with evidence relating to cruelty in
live export Live export is the commercial transport of livestock across national borders. The trade involves a number of countries with the Australian live export industry being one of the largest exporters in the global trade. According to the Australi ...
s; lobbied the
OIE The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), formerly the (OIE), is an intergovernmental organization coordinating, supporting and promoting animal disease control. Mission and status The main objective of the WOAH is to control epizoo ...
to improve animal welfare guidelines; worked with the Princess Alia Foundation to improve slaughter practices in Jordan and contributed to creation of animal welfare legislation in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
and
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, amongst other projects.


Live exports


Slaughter practices

Animals Australia's investigations in the Middle East in 2006 resulted in the first suspension of the
live export Live export is the commercial transport of livestock across national borders. The trade involves a number of countries with the Australian live export industry being one of the largest exporters in the global trade. According to the Australi ...
trade and a benchmark prosecution of a live export company for cruelty."Emanuel Exports Magistrates Court Decision"
, Barristers Animal Welfare Panel, 14 February 2007
Their investigations into the export of Australian cattle to Indonesia in 2011, which showed animals being subjected to eye-gouging, tail-breaking, multiple throat cuts, "roping slaughter" and incorrect use of slaughter restraint boxes, led to a temporary suspension of the trade to Indonesia and the implementation of industry-wide Supply Chain Assurance Standards, monitored by the Australian
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry may refer to: * Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Australia) ** Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (Queensland) The Department of Agriculture and Fisheries is a de ...
. The Indonesian investigation led to an exposé by ABC TV's ''
Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...
'' program entitled "A Bloody Business" which earned the reporters a Gold Walkley Award and Logie for 'Most Outstanding Public Affairs Report'. In 2020, Animals Australia again submitted video evidence to the Department of Agriulture showing Australian cattle being slaughtered in Indonesia using methods that breached live export standards (ESCAS)


Heat stress on ships

Whistleblower footage provided to Animals Australia, and shown by the organisation to then-Agriculture Minister David Littleproud, depicted Australian sheep suffering severe heat stress on board the Awassi Express live export ship and several other live export voyages to the Middle East during 2017. Sheep were shown "dead and decaying", lying in excrement, panting and unable to reach food and water. Littleproud was quoted as saying the footage was "very disturbing,” and that he was “shocked and gutted". This evidence, along with scientific review highlighting the inherent risk of heat stress during the Northern Hemisphere summer, led to the Australian Government prohibiting live sheep shipments from Australia during the highest-risk months of the year, being May to October. The exporter responsible for the Awassi Express was also implicated in the deaths of 3000 Australian sheep from heat stress on board the Al Messilah in 2016, and the Federal Government has revoked the company's export licence.


Factory farming

In October 2012 Animals Australia launched its largest ever public awareness campaign initiative called "Make it Possible", with the goal of ending factory farming in Australia. A series of advertisements, featuring animated pigs and chickens and a musical soundtrack to the song Somewhere, performed by players from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, was played on commercial television stations and in cinemas. The two-minute film received the 2012 Mobius Award for excellence in advertising for the cinema/in-flight category. The film was accompanied by celebrity endorsements, such as from
Michael Caton Michael Caton (born 21 July 1943) is an Australian television, film and stage actor, comedian and television host, best known for playing Uncle Harry in the Australian television series '' The Sullivans'', Darryl Kerrigan in 1997's low-budget h ...
, Missy Higgins, Dave Hughes, Michelle Bridges,
Rove McManus John Henry Michael McManus (born 21 January 1974), better known by the stage name Rove McManus, is an Australian triple Gold Logie award-winning comedian, television and radio presenter, producer and media personality. He was the host of the e ...
and others. In response to the Make it Possible campaign, Coles supermarkets announced a fast-tracked phase out of
battery cage Battery cages are a housing system used for various animal production methods, but primarily for egg-laying hens. The name arises from the arrangement of rows and columns of identical cages connected together, in a unit, as in an artillery batt ...
eggs and pork products produced with the use of
sow stall A gestation crate, also known as a sow stall, is a metal enclosure in which a farmed sow used for breeding may be kept during pregnancy.Wilson G. Pond, Fuller W. Bazer, Bernard E. Rollin (eds.), ''Animal Welfare in Animal Agriculture'', CRC Press ...
s for their home brand products by January 2013. In December 2020, Animals Australia launched 'Somewhere', an evolution of the Make it Possible campaign, on behalf of all farmed animals.


Greyhound racing

Following joint investigations with Animal Liberation Queensland, in February 2015 Animals Australia exposed 'live baiting' training methods in the greyhound industry, reigniting the campaign to end greyhound racing. The campaign reveals some top figures within greyhound racing using live possums, rabbits and piglets as 'bait' to train their greyhounds. It also focuses on the widespread abuse of greyhounds in the industry, including the killing of thousands of young and healthy dogs every year. In December 2015, Animals Australia exposed the export of Australian greyhounds to China and Macau. At the Canidrome racetrack in Macau life-threatening injuries are a daily occurrence, and no Australian greyhound is on record as surviving for longer than three years. Canidrome has a 100% euthanasia rate of Australian greyhounds. The Vietnamese greyhound racing industry, where investigation footage reveals unwanted dogs being injected with an insecticide and dying in agony, was set up by Australian industry interests.


'Somewhere'—legalised cruelty to farmed animals

In December 2020, Animals Australia launched 'Somewhere':Somewhere - campaign by Animals Australia
/ref> a prime time public awareness campaign on behalf of farmed animals, highlighting how Australian animals raised and killed for food are left exposed to cruel routine practices by industry exemptions to animal cruelty laws. These practices include painful surgical procedures without pain relief like
castration Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharma ...
, de-horning and disbudding, teeth-cutting and tail clipping; severe confinement (as in the case of hens in
battery cages Battery cages are a housing system used for various animal production methods, but primarily for egg-laying hens. The name arises from the arrangement of rows and columns of identical cages connected together, in a unit, as in an artillery batt ...
or mother pigs in farrowing crates); and distressing gas stunning during slaughter. The campaign encourages caring Australians that "your choices can change their world." The name of the campaign comes from that of the Sondheim/Bernstein song, 'Somewhere', originally from the musical
West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...
, which plays in the campaign television ad. The song's lyrics of "Someday, somewhere/We'll find a new way of living" and "Peace and quiet and open air wait for us/Somewhere" are used to poignantly highlight the suffering of pigs and other animals in factory farms; and suggest that their "dreams" of freedom could come true.


People


Glenys Oogjes—Chief Executive Officer

Glenys Oogjes is one of Australia's longest serving animal advocates. She was raised on a Victorian dairy farm and has a degree in Behavioural Science. She has contributed to many national reviews of Codes of Practice and animal welfare laws in each Australian State and Territory. Oogjes has also worked to achieve greater protection for animals through representation on various committees including the Victorian Animal Welfare Advisory Committee, Institutional Animal Ethics committees, and on the Advisory Committee of the Animal Welfare Science Centre. Oogjes was one of the instigators of the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy and represents animal advocacy groups on the Australian Animal Welfare Advisory Committee which provides animal welfare advice to the Federal and State Australian Agriculture Ministers.


Lyn White AM—Campaign Director and Investigator

Formerly a South Australian police officer, White served as Australian Director of the Animals Asia Foundation on
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
animal cruelty issues before joining Animals Australia in 2003. Since 2003, White has conducted numerous investigations in the Middle East and Indonesia into the treatment of live exported animals from Australia. Evidence gathered has resulted in a leading live export company being prosecuted for animal cruelty and three 60 Minutes and three 7.30 Report segments highlighting brutal treatment of exported Australian animals. White 's January 2006 investigation in Egypt resulted in the Australian Federal Government suspending the live cattle trade to Egypt. In Jordan, White has assisted H.R.H.
Princess Alia bint Al Hussein Princess Alia bint Hussein (born 13 February 1956) is the eldest child of King Hussein of Jordan. Her mother is his first wife, Sharifa Dina bint Abdul-Hamid. Education Princess Alia received her primary education in Amman, attending Ahliyyah ...
to achieve animal welfare breakthroughs in the country and acts as Chief Advisor to the Princess Alia Foundation. In 2011, footage obtained by White and a co-investigator in 11 Indonesian slaughterhouses processing Australian cattle was featured on ABC's Four Corners program. The resulting story led to the suspension of live exports to Indonesia and unprecedented public and political pressure to end the trade. White was a state finalist for the 2012 Australian of the Year awards, and was named 2nd in a list of Melbourne's 100 most influential people of 2011 by The Age Melbourne Magazine. She was made a Member of the
Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...
(AM) in the 2014 Queen's Birthday Honours for "significant service to the community as an animal rights and welfare advocate". She has been described by bioethicist and author of Animal Liberation,
Peter Singer Peter Albert David Singer (born 6 July 1946) is an Australian moral philosopher, currently the Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University. He specialises in applied ethics and approaches ethical issues from a Secularit ...
, as the most effective animal campaigner of his generation.


Animal Charity Evaluators review

Animals Australia has been one of Animal Charity Evaluators' (ACE) Standout Charities in its annual recommendations since December 2015. ACE designates as Standout Charities those organizations which they do not feel are as strong as their Top Charities, but which excel in at least one way and are exceptionally strong compared to animal charities in general. In its December 2015 review of Animals Australia, ACE cites Animals Australia's strengths as their "ability to steer public conversation in Australia in a more animal friendly direction", concrete successes such as getting McDonald's to phase out battery eggs, a self-critical mindset, and significant growth in recent years. Their weaknesses, according to ACE, include significant spending to help much smaller populations of animals (e.g. those used in live export or puppy farming, as opposed to animal agriculture), and the fact that its activities are largely confined to Australia. Note in the latest review (November 2018) Animals Australia declined to be reviewed stating that they were too busy.


See also

* Animal welfare and rights in Australia


References


External links


Animals Australia Official Website

Animals Australia - YouTube channel

Animals International
{{Authority control Organizations established in 1980 Animal welfare organisations based in Australia Animal charities based in Australia Non-profit organisations based in Victoria (Australia)