[Tradeban] FW: SMH 'FOI' online article re Maysora

[Sabina]

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From: Glenys Oogjes [mailto:googjes at animalsaustralia.org] 
Sent: Thursday, 9 August 2007 9:37 AM
To: googjes at aniamalsaustralia.org
Subject: SMH 'FOI' online article re Maysora 

 

Hi all - 

See this 'blog' from the SMH's FOI journo - Mathew Moore contacted me after
our media release on the voyage of the Maysora.  He is interested
particularly in the time and energy it took to get the investigation report
on this shipment.  If you go to the site you will see there is a place at
the bottom of the article to add your views to the debate online.  

See our media release for background -
http://www.animalsaustralia.org/media/press_releases.php?release=82  and
note that to our knowledge there has already been at least 3 'reportable'
mortality incidents in 2007.

Glenys 

 

http://blogs.smh.com.au/newsblog/archives/freedom_of_information/014942.html


Death ship facts took months to uncover


IT'S four years since the Commonwealth Government held an inquiry following
the outcry that erupted when Saudi Arabia left 50,000 of our sheep stranded
on a ship claiming they were infected with scabby mouth. The report prompted
by that disastrous voyage, called the Keniry Livestock Export Review, was
one of several inquiries designed to improve the care of animals in
Australia's lucrative livestock export industry.

IT'S four years since the Commonwealth Government held an inquiry following
the outcry that erupted when Saudi Arabia left 50,000 of our sheep stranded
on a ship claiming they were infected with scabby mouth. The report prompted
by that disastrous voyage, called the Keniry Livestock Export Review, was
one of several inquiries designed to improve the care of animals in
Australia's lucrative livestock export industry.

If you search the copy of the Keniry review on the Department of Agriculture
Fisheries and Forestry website, you will see the word "transparent" comes up
nine times. Search for "transparency" and you'll find six more mentions,
many of them among the recommendations to the then minister, Warren Truss.

The reason for transparency is that governments know people will have
confidence in policies only if the process is sufficiently open to convince
them they know what actually happens.

Transparency in the livestock export business was seen as particularly
important given the zeal with which animal welfare groups have campaigned
for decades to improve standards for animals on these ships, often by
exposing the worst of the mistakes.

Under an agreement the Government reached with the animal welfare groups,
Parliament is informed every six months of any shipment of livestock where
the death rate exceeds certain percentages, known as a reportable level.

Later, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service posts on its website
details of voyages where death rates have exceeded what are regarded as
acceptable levels.

So in May, the service posted a summary of a shipment in October last year
of 4657 cattle from Fremantle to Israel and Jordan. The trip lasted 26 days
and 248 cattle died, well above the reportable level and enough to prompt an
AQIS investigation. The summary of the investigation concluded rather
blandly that "pneumonia and heat stress were the main factors" causing the
deaths.

A column headed "actions" said sufficient antibiotics should be carried in
the event of an outbreak of pneumonia.

But the details of how 248 cattle actually died were not included. That
information was made available only after the animal welfare group Animals
Australia lodged a freedom of information request in January.

AQIS originally estimated it would cost $2156 to provide the documents
Animal Australia had sought, including a report of the voyage to Israel.

Six months of negotiating brought the price down and finally produced the
seven-page report Animals Australia had sought from the outset. It included
the crucial details the summary had left out. It said many cattle died
because of "prolonged recumbency and leg infections".

"The AQIS-accredited veterinarian has stated that many of the Friesians died
of septicaemia from wounds" and that 11 bulls were lame just four days into
the voyage.

The wounds were apparently caused by "abrasive flooring in decks two to
seven", the "relative inco-ordination [sic] of Friesians [when getting up]
with abraisions" and "wet flooring".

That is clearly a dangerous combination. The report concluded: "A prolonged
recumbency and relative difficulty arising on the abrasive flooring can
cause skin damage which becomes infected because of the wetter than normal
conditions. Once infected, the cattle spend an increased time recumbent and
the cause of death is septicaemia."

What is depressing about all this is that it took six months and scores of
hours of work to get hold of a report that should have been made available
to the public anyway.

Even LiveCorp, the body representing live animal exporters, supports the
idea of transparency and says so on its website. AQIS supports it, the
Government says it supports it, but if you want to find out what goes on you
still have to submit a freedom of information request to find out.

In one sense it's good that the service released the report at all. But
surely it would be far better if it posted every such report on its website,
especially as they are intended to prevent similar deaths in the future.

The reports are paid for by taxpayers; surely the few taxpayers who really
are concerned about these issues should be able to get all the information
as it becomes available without wasting their time and money enforcing their
legal rights.

Matthew Moore is the Herald's FoI editor. Tell him your FoI successes and
failures at foi at smh.com.au

Posted by SMH Online 
August 9, 2007 12:35 AM

 

 

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