Committee Secretary Senate Standing Committees on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport PO Box 6100 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 (If sending by email: By email: [email protected])

11 March 2015 Dear Committee Members,

I am writing to make a submission in support of the Criminal Code Amendment (Animal Protection) Bill 2015.

In previous generations every family had a country cousin or friend and would go and visit them during the school holidays. People learnt about farms and farming practices, why these practices were undertaken and knew the importance of food security and a secure supply of it. Sadly as some farming businesses have expanded, others have sold and left the land. This has led to less people living on the land and therefore a reduction in country cousins for people to visit and learn from. Coupled with this the population has also expanded within the metropolitan areas. People are beginning to lose touch with where their food comes from and are developing a disconnect with those of us who are in the country growing food and fibre. Australian farmers go about their business, just as people in the city go about theirs. Unintentionally, a divide has formed over the years between people in the city and people in the country. Sadly the vast majority of people have not got the time or the inclination to bridge this gap. This ever widening gap has allowed misinformation and suspicion of practices undertaken by primary producers to spread, almost unchecked. People seeking information about where their food is coming from are being intentionally misguided and misinformed by fanatical groups of people who are determined to end animal agriculture.

In recent years we have seen increasingly violent, inaccurate and downright offensive attacks on animal agriculture. These attacks are varied from break ins on farms where video footage is taken without permission violating the right to privacy of the owner of the business and property, animals being stolen under the guise of being “rescued” and farmers being physically assaulted for doing nothing more than disturbing these individuals while they are trespassing on their property. activists claim that they care about animals and continuously attack animal agriculture and people within the farming community while promoting a lifestyle of . They show complete disregard for biosecurity laws and endanger the health of the animals that they claim to be saving as well as the general public. They use their activities to raise funds to further attack animal agriculture and in some cases fund their own hobby farms that they term as “farm animal sanctuaries” which are filled with animals that they have been stolen from genuine hard working primary producers.

Attacking Animal Agriculture

Animals Rights activists illegally obtain footage by trespassing and recording or photographing without permission, they then edit the footage to ensure the farm is shown in the worst possible light and then publish the footage online. They remove the date and time stamps on the recordings so that the general public can’t see how long they have held onto the footage before releasing it. They do not report the footage to authorities who can legally address what is being shown in the recordings. In many cases the animal right activists hold onto the footage until it’s outside the time period in which they can be charged for trespass, before publishing it. When the footage is published it is done so in conjunction with a social media campaign urging supporters to sign petitions, donate to their cause and encourage people to “share” the edited footage with their friends and families. There have also been cases of the footage being released by television channels as “exclusive footage”. When this happens the groups are ready with a social media campaign and even dedicated websites to further push their cause and gather donations.

This Facebook post by (https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153851293022195&set=vb.263328217194&type= 2&theater) was viewed by 19,077 people, shared by 1,522 people, liked by 593 people, and received 320 comments. Comments include:

No such thing as humane animal farming

As it happens i have studied animal behaviour at University. Aside from that...mammals have in common amongst many other things a central nervous system and all have evolved to survive by responding to a pain or fear stimulus through the various senses...sight, smell, touch etc. The automatic response to perceived threat or pain is to vocalise, as a newborn to motivate parental protection and later to warn clan or herd members of danger. When horns, tails, teeth are removed from animals on factory farms without anaesthetic or flesh is burnt in branding, when animals smell the blood, hear the cries of their herd members in a slaughter house they understand those cries and want to escape, to stay alive like all living things, like you and I , they shake with terror and they scream. Do you seriously dispute the science of this? I wonder why you are so defensive and angry? Could it be that you are either making an income from the exploitation and therefore the suffering of animals or that you are a meat eater and searching for a defence for supporting this cruelty.

Brave people in many of the groups right here in Australia have filmed and photographed sometimes secretly, sometimes by getting employment in factory farms and abattoirs. there are many videos and photos that have been shown commercially and on Facebook. have shown videos on Television. If you go to their site some may be available from there. Hardly any of our Animal Welfare laws in Australia apply to farmed animals.Tail docking of dogs for example is illegal but is a routine procedure on piglets without anaesthetic. "Correct ways" or legal handling animals on factory farms include many forms of torture such as dehorning, branding, tail docking, mulesing,tooth clipping. beak removal all without even painkillers. force feeding, force impregnating confining animals for their whole lives to minute living spaces such as caged chickens, cow stalls, veal boxes and thousands of animals die in ships on export boats in confined, ammonia filled dark quarters where they otherwise live for weeks on end. And then there is the terror of the transporting and final horror of the where the so called humane stunning only actually works part of the time.Most farm animals live only a small fraction of their normal life expectancy. Please look at some of the earlier posts on this thread. I am surprised you are unaware of them.

After the footage is released farmers, workers and businesses are attacked and referred to as abusers on websites (e.g. “Aussie Pigs” http://aussiepigs.com/abusers) when no charges have been laid or have been dropped by the relevant authorities. There have also been cases of some photographs of farmers as well as their personal details and contact details provided without their permission (Aussie Pigs website.(http://aussiepigs.com/piggeries/golden- grove http://aussiepigs.com/piggeries/wally).

Questionably obtained footage and public demonization of animal agriculture can be found on the following websites:

http://www.aussiefarms.org.au/, http://www.aussieabattoirs.com/, http://www.aussieturkeys.com.au/, http://www.aussiechickens.com.au/, http://www.aussieeggs.com/, http://www.aussieducks.com.au/.

Animal Liberation (http://www.animal-lib.org.au/campaigns/animals-for-food), Animals Australia (http://www.animalsaustralia.org/issues/dairy.php), and Voiceless (http://www.voiceless.org.au/the-issues), to name a few, all participate in the demonization of animal agriculture.

It is also not just large corporate charities that are publishing and demonizing people who participate in animal agriculture. There is an increasing trend for animal rights activists to use social media to share photographs and stories from when they have broken into these farms.

These individuals regularly demonize animal agriculture on their web pages as well as social media. They also ask for donations to support their hobby farms, sell photographs of their “rescued animals” and photographs taken whilst illegally trespassing, making profits from crime.

Endangering the Health of Farm Animals and the General Public

Animal rights activists have no regard for on farm biosecurity measures. They will break into several piggeries and chicken farms in a weekend to covertly film, photograph and “rescue” animals. When this happens biosecurity has been breached and the farmer must then take measures to rectify this including, but not limited to, destroying stock that could potentially have been affected. This is done at a cost to the producer.

If there was to be an outbreak of avian or swine flu these animal rights activists could assist in spreading this to hobby farmers and other commercial properties. This also applies for sheep production properties that are footrot free. Having an animal rights activist trespass onto a sheep producers property with dirt on their shoes from an infected property would lead to an outbreak of footrot within that farmers property as footrot is a fungal disease that is able to live in soil.

Animal rights activists target sickly animals in their break-ins to “rescue” and take to a better life at a farm animal sanctuary:

“At 12.30pm on January 30th, 2015 I received a phone call. The caller was upset, she said “This place is disgusting [Name Removed]. There’s swarms of flies everywhere. There’s pig skeletons. It’s horrific”. I hung up with a heavy heart with images of intensive piggeries I’d visited in the past in my mind. Ten minutes later I got another call – “I’m on the way to your house. I have a pig. She’s so sick”.

“She spent the few weeks in a foster home before coming to live with me. [Hen1] has a crushed vertebrae from either rough handling or having her head stuck in the bars. She has a lung infection. She has a half cut off bottom beak. She has nerve damage to one of her eyes and she has a screw in her gizzard.”

“[Hen2] had absolutely no feathers and had the look of a sick chicken about her.”

“As I held a small, almost dead hen in a pillowcase on my lap in the car, I could barely feel her breathing. I didn’t know if she’d make the trip home, let alone the next day, the next week or year. She was found in a cage at a battery egg farm.”

The targeting of animals that are showing signs of illness is believed to be so that they can ask for additional donations to cover their veterinary bills. This is particularly concerning as they may steal an animal that is infected with swine or avian flu and then spread this disease to not only other animals but also to areas more populated by humans.

“So many of you out there have asked how you can help [Pig] and if you can contribute to the vet costs. We are very touched by your concern and love for [Pig]. If you would really love to contribute, our bank and paypal details are here: [website withheld] Thank you x”

The biosecurity concern is not exclusive to disease that is already present in Australia. Animal rights activists have spoken previously on social media about introducing foreign diseases, including foot and mouth disease, into Australia as a way to “cripple” the agricultural industry and limit marketing potential to overseas buyers.

In the state of it is illegal to move unmarked (stock without ear tags or ear marks) and a weigh bill (legal document stating where the animal has come from, where it is going and who the previous and current owner is). When animals are stolen they are transported without any of this documentation, this causes a biosecurity hazard as the animal is then unable to be traced to point of origin.

Additionally if there is an outbreak of disease on the property that the animal came from or in the area that the animal was stolen from the farmer is unable to alert the people who currently have the animal. This poses a risk to any populations of the species that the animal rights activists comes into contact with until the person caring for the stolen animal is able to have the illness identified. The farmer is also unable to identify where the disease outbreak has come from as the animal rights activists don’t leave notation as to where they have previously been.

Biosecurity measures in Western Australia for the care of pigs and poultry involve staff signing agreements that they will not come into contact with any other pigs or birds, as well as having withholding periods after airline travel and withholding periods when a person has had a virus. Biosecurity measures that are undertaken on the property that I am from (wool production property) include: • separate boots for going off farm to saleyards, sheep studs and other properties • all sheep incoming from other properties have a withholding period before being released in with the general flock • no “outside” dogs are allowed to work our sheep • there must be a paddock in between our sheep and our neighbours sheep while we are grazing their stubbles after harvest.

Ideally we also try to keep a barrier of one paddock between our sheep and sheep belonging to our neighbour to prevent parasite transfer. Any sheep that do manage to get through a boundary fence do not return to our property to prevent the spread of disease and parasites, any sheep belonging to our neighbour that are found on our property are dealt with as soon as they are seen.

The animals that are stolen from farms are routinely transported in the back of vans and cars, a practice that animal rights activists campaign against heavily in the live export industry. These vehicles are not designed to carry livestock. This puts other road users at risk as the animals they are transporting would be stressed at being transported in a way that is unfamiliar to them.

Is it Really About the Animals, and Stopping “Factory Farming”?

The animal rights organisations claim to be about protecting animals and putting an end to animal suffering. The part of the industry they spend the most energy attacking is “factory farming”. The following claims can be found on almost all of the web pages that are published by the animal rights organisations: Factory farming is the number one cause of animal cruelty in the world today. Factory farming exists because it has been deliberately hidden from the eyes of the community. (http://www.makeitpossible.com/facts/frequently-asked-questions.php#faq1) Most animals produced for food in Australia suffer behind the closed doors of large industrial facilities known as factory farms. (https://www.voiceless.org.au/the- issues/factory-farming)

However, reading further into the information provided by the organisations it is revealed by some of the following statements what their true intentions are: Animal agriculture is the leading cause of just about every major environmental issue including global warming, and is directly responsible for the brutal deaths of literally billions of thinking, feeling individuals every year. (https://www.aussiefarms.org.au/repository/) Animal Liberation intends to fight for all non-human animals until they are able to live lives of their choosing, free from intervention, use and abuse by humans. (http://www.animal-lib.org.au/about) Animals are purpose-bred, raised and slaughtered in horrific conditions to satisfy humans’ ever-growing lust for animal products. Not only is eating meat and animal products terrible for the animals, it is bad for human health and disastrous for the environment.( http://www.animal-lib.org.au/campaigns/animals-for-food) While many cattle on the vast stations in the north of Australia are destined for live export, their troubles begin well before they ever set foot on a ship. Painful procedures, infrequent monitoring and care, and the stresses of mustering make this far from an idyllic life for animals. (http://www.animalsaustralia.org/issues/cattle- stations.php)

Hidden within the demonizing of animal agriculture there is a push to encourage people to take up veganism. Animals Australia have an anti-dairy campaign page where there is a link to go “dairy free” (http://www.animalsaustralia.org/features/dairy-free-shopping-list.php). On their “Make it Possible” campaign pages there are links teaching people how to go meat free if the images and videos on their website have put you off meat (http://www.makeitpossible.com/guides/tips-for-going-meat-free.php). The following quote is also on this same page:

"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." - Albert Einstein

It has been publically stated by a member of their executive team on social media that Animals Australia has a vegan agenda:

“Their vegan agenda is everywhere - YOU find me one instance where they promote or excuse or animal products. You find me one instance where they suggest there is a humane alternative... i.e. free range - where they ACTUALLY say that's what people should be eating. As i have said before - this is not coming from my own observations only, this is coming from being on the inside. You find me one instance where one of their policies says that eating or producing animals for food or animal products is OK.”

“They are just smart about what they say publicly, because they know that to make an ACTUAL change, you can;t go around telling everyone they should be vegan.”

“I think I have said this to you before, but AA is responsible for more people going vegan than you will be if you live 10 lifetimes. That;s all that matters to me - that people stop using animals, and I don;t care how it's done as long as it's done as effdectively and therefore as quickly as possible, which is what they're doing and what you're trying to hinder them doing”

Aussie Farms (http://www.aussiefarms.org.au/) also promotes veganism with links to a website (http://www.veganeasy.org) found throughout their website.

Animal Liberation organises and promotes events aimed at eliminating animal agriculture including but not limited to:

• March to Close All (http://www.animal-lib.org.au/events/116- march-to-close-all-slaughterhouses-2015), • The Sydney Vegan Festival (http://www.animal-lib.org.au/events/115-sydney- vegan-festival-2015), and • The Truth About Turkey Farming - Xmas Campaign (http://www.animal- lib.org.au/events/113-the-truth-about-turkey-farming-xmas-campaign)

Live export is another aspect of animal rights that is heavily focused on. Animals Australia has a website dedicated to campaigning against it (http://www.banliveexport.com/) and prominent links and information on their main website (http://www.animalsaustralia.org/investigations/live-export/). These pages feature “investigations” that are fast turning into a trial by media. Animals Australia are also increasingly targeting one exporter, leading to the belief that they are now trying to take down each exporter one at a time by encouraging their supporters to email and tweet comments against the specific company.

As well as being covered by the main animal rights charity organisations, there are also smaller “grass roots” organisations that focus solely on campaigning against live exports. Stop Live Exports (http://www.stopliveexports.org/) is a group that is based in Fremantle, Western Australia who claims to be against “Cruelty in Animal Transport”. However, recently there was this comment posted by their admin on their Facebook page leading to the belief that they are in fact working to stop animal agriculture all together:

(https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=918536271524880&id =128141990564316)

Stop Live Exports not only posts against live export on social media, but they also regularly post against animal transport in general, including truck transport. This begs the question, if we can’t use trucks to get animals to where they need to be, how are we meant to get them there? And how come it’s seen as acceptable for activists to transport animals in the back of cars or vans? Especially when that is one of the main arguments that is brought up about transporting animals in foreign countries after we have exported them live. I believe that their aim is to make transporting animals so difficult and costly for us that we eventually find it too hard to keep them and stop farming animals altogether.

Activism as an Industry Animal rights activism is fast becoming an industry in its own right. It is becoming a way to fund your activities, earn an income and become a household name. There are big egos involved, with a growing network around Australia exchanging ideas and comparing ways to get their message across. There is even now an annual conference where they can learn to be a more effective activist (http://www.animal-lib.org.au/events/99-animal-activists-forum- 2015).

At the 2014 conference there were the following sessions listed that you could participate in: • The importance of storytelling in animal rights activism • Being a more effective activist • Legal Aspects of Animal Activism • Running a successful rescue group • The point of lobbying MPs when Parliament fails to act on animal cruelty • IT Skills for Animal Activists: Websites, email lists and other IT skills for beginners • Silencing the voices for the voiceless? Ag Gags laws and the threats to animal activism • How to make your cause front page news • Selfies in the Henhouse: Digital privacy, metadata and the Activist • 101 ways to get into a school: Bringing Veganism into the classroom • The Lucrative Activist Paid By Google - Social Media Tips with Durianrider • Meat Free Mondays: How to market your food choices to others

Additional sessions were also presented by “big names” in animal activism including: • Chris Delforce (Aussie Farms), • Senator Lee Rhiannon ( Senator for NSW), • Anne Greenaway (Lawyers for Companion Animals), • , and Phillip Hall (Animal Liberation NSW), • Mark Pearson (), and • representatives from PETA and Animals Australia.

Animal Liberation Victoria have world first, Animal Rescue or Teams which specialise in farm invasions, and claim to:

routinely save the lives of unattended and neglected animals who are left sick and dying in factory farms. Rescue team members also document (with video footage and photographs) the conditions for animals in factory farms, feedlots, live export and abattoirs. (http://www.alv.org.au/rescueteam.php). This footage is rarely handed over to authorities for animal cruelty charges, but instead routinely finds its way to a campaign website or social media page with a “click here to watch” tag attached to it (http://www.alv.org.au/campaigns.php)

Following each campaign is an opportunity to become a member, or donate to “help fund the fight”.

• Animal Liberation http://www.animal-lib.org.au/donate • Aussie Farms https://www.aussiefarms.org.au/repository/ • Voiceless https://www.voiceless.org.au/donate • Animals Australia https://secure.animalsaustralia.org/donate

Gaining photographs and filming footage to deliver an exclusive expose is the key to obtaining donations. In the 2013/14 financial year Animals Australia listed $4.6 M received in donations and bequests, 73.8% of their total income which was an increase of 31.7% on the 2012/13 financial year Had the footage been forwarded to the RSPCA or the Department of Agriculture in the relevant states that it had occurred in to be properly investigated, Animals Australia may not have received that volume of donations.

Voiceless offers grants and prizes to fund animal rights activists who show initiative and produce material that can be used to “give animals a voice”. Voiceless has successfully funded a number of anti-farming campaigns that are seen regularly in the media (https://www.voiceless.org.au/our-approach/grants-and-prizes/2014).

All the donations and bequests on the back of campaigns showing video footage and photographs obtained illegally through trespass brings into question the validity of the intentions of the activists. Are they really trying to stop animal cruelty? If they were trying to stop animal cruelty then handing over footage to the relevant authorities in a timely manner and without hesitation would be in the animal best interests

Getting My Own Little Hobby Farm As previously mentioned, an additional concern of farmers is that when animal rights activists trespass they often take stock belonging to the farmer with them. As well as trespassing, filming and photographing to raise funds, activists are stealing animals and passing them onto “farm animal sanctuaries” to then ask for donations to go towards the care of the animal. The farm animal sanctuaries, as well as the animal rights groups stealing the animals, profit from donations that are gathered to go towards the care of the animals as well as additional side businesses, such as selling photographs of the animals that have been stolen or writing books filled with the animals “stories”. These books are also further propaganda against the farming industry and are being marketed towards children.

Many farm animal sanctuaries are associated with animal rights groups however there are also stand-alone farm animal sanctuaries. These sanctuaries are essentially hobby farms, often in idyllic locations, where ‘rescued’ animals can live out the rest of their lives, never having to have their babies weaned or having to know the “horrors” of on farm . Most importantly though, it is a place where their new owners can live a cruelty free lifestyle in their own little tree change. Some of these sanctuaries are:

• Brightside http://brightside.org.au/ • Edgars Mission http://www.edgarsmission.org.au/ • Lefty’s Place http://www.tamarakenneallyphotography.com/category/leftys-place/ • Farm Animal Rescue http://www.farmanimalrescue.org.au/ • Gunyah Animal Healing Sanctuary http://www.gunyah.org/ • Big Ears Animal Sanctuary http://www.bigearsanimalsanctuary.com/ • Greener Pastures Sanctuary https://greenerpasturessanctuary.org.au/ • Little Oak Sanctuary http://www.littleoaksanctuary.org/ • Manning River Farm Animal Sanctuary https://www.facebook.com/ManningRiverFAS • Free Hearts Animal Sanctuary https://www.facebook.com/FreeHeartsAnimalSanctuary11 • Happy Hooves Farm Sanctuary http://animalactionist.com/our-farm-sanctuary/ • A Poultry Place https://www.facebook.com/apoultryplace/timeline • Willowite Animal Sanctuary https://www.facebook.com/willowite2006 • Hart Acres Animal Haven https://www.facebook.com/HartAcresAnimalHaven • Where Pigs Fly Farm Sanctuary https://www.facebook.com/wherepigsflyfarmsanctuary • Sunny Corner Farm Sanctuary https://www.facebook.com/SunnyCornerFarmSanctuar y

In Western Australia there are two main farm animal sanctuaries. One of these has been confirmed as having stolen animals on their property and has had a long affiliation with Animal Amnesty, an animal rights group that is based in Fremantle, Western Australia. Animal Amnesty also has a side branch of “ART & AWE” (Animal Rescue Team & Animal Welfare Entity).

This Sanctuary is based in Western Australia. It is listed as a not for profit organisation and is trying to gain charity status. They have several animals on their property that they openly state on social media have been stolen/rescued from factory farms or feedlots:

“Petrie was rescued from a factory farm, a runt, left to die. Lovingly hand raised by our friend [Name removed] he is now safe and happy here at GPS.”

“Baby Jolly, the sweetest pig in the world! With Christmas fast approaching, please remember this little dude. Rescued from a factory farm... He could have been your Christmas ham!”

“Jolly rescued factory farm pig out and about with new carer [Name removed]”

“Lucy (the feedlot rescue) is loving her new life and her new friends”

They regularly ask for donations for the upkeep of these animals. The websites for these “farm animal sanctuaries” are filled with misinformation and emotive language that is used against the agricultural industry.

A Sanctury based in Victoria and is owned by [Name Removed]. [Name Removed] is a photographer who regularly breaks into farms and abattoirs, steals animals to live at her farm animal sanctuary. [Name Removed] has recently began harassing other legal businesses and past times (e.g. Royal Melbourne Show, rodeos, abattoirs and saleyards) in the quest to end animal agriculture and what [Name Removed] perceives as animal cruelty. It has been openly admitted on both the website and social media that [Name Removed] steals animals to live at their hobby farm.

“Pancho stood with his lamb friends at the abattoir in the early hours of the morning one day in January 2013. When he was caught and lifted up over the barriers, he didn’t know how lucky he was. Pancho didn’t want to leave his friends, whose futures were coming to an end in roughly 20 minutes time. The sounds and animal cries from the abattoir muffled the sound of Pancho’s rescue. He was transported to our place and now lives a fear free life with the rest of our rescued sheep flock.”

“This is how we found them. The girl on the left was dead, the girl on the right was trapped under her. She was crushed and listless. She hadn't been able to eat or drink for days and days. She was rescued and I named her "Phoenix" in the hope she would rise from the ashes of her past. Sadly, she only survived two weeks after her rescue. Her body was too damaged by this hell. Please read her story here [Link Removed] *Please feel free to share, but do not crop, add text or manipulate my images in anyway. Copyright [Name Removed].*”

In closing I view the animal rights organisations that refuse to hand over their footage to the Department of Agriculture to be profiting from animal cruelty. The only people getting rich from animal cruelty are those that are breaking into farms, taking videos and photographs, editing them and releasing them with a tagline “donate now!” The others that are profiting from those who are breaking, entering and stealing from producers is the “farm animal sanctuaries” who use stolen animals to gather donations from the gullible public and to fund their chosen hobby farm lifestyle. This bill will go a long way to increasing animal welfare standards in Australia by forcing those that are profiting from animal cruelty (those that are releasing videos of animal cruelty to gather donations) to hand over the footage in a timely manner, giving the relevant authorities the evidence to prosecute those who are doing the wrong thing. Failing to pass this bill is not in the best interests of animals, it is in the best interests of these activists.

I did not grow up in the country and immersed in agriculture, I grew up in the city and only became involved in agriculture when I met my boyfriend. Since then I have learnt why certain procedures are used and why certain aspects of the agricultural industry exist. Now as a farmer myself I want animal cruelty within my industry stamped out, I do not condone animal cruelty in any way, shape or form. Any good producer also knows, you don’t make money from animals that are unhappy. A happy animal grows well and produces a good yield of whatever you are producing, whether it is food or fibre. By sitting on footage and not handing it over to the Department of Agriculture animal rights activists are complicit in animal cruelty within my industry.

So in the interests of animal welfare, farming, and food security this bill must be passed.

If the senate would like further evidence of claims made within this submission please contact me at the email address provided with this submission.

Yours sincerely,

Stacey Bell