The WTO concluded its hearings on Europe’s ban on seal products on Tuesday 30 April 2013. The challenge under GATT was initiated by Canada and Norway. No report by the WTO Panel is expected for some months. In addition, last Thursday 25 April 2013 the European General Court upheld Europe’s ban on commercial seal products.…
Sheep being transported. Photo courtesy of RSPCA Australia. The Panel notes with deep concern how the Standards and Guidelines developing under the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy seem bound to perpetuate poor welfare standards for farm animals. The first Standards and Guidelines, Standards and Guidelines for Land Transport of Livestock, are a shameful first case in point. It…
Photo courtesy of ‘National Geographic Photo of the Day Collection 2001-2009? available from Phombo.com The ICJ has announced that the public hearing dates for the whaling case initiated by Australia, would be from 26 June 2013 to 16 July 2013 at The Hague. You can read the media coverage here. You can read the ICJ Press Release here.
JAPAN’s fisheries minister has blamed “sabotage” by the Sea Shepherd anti-whaling group for a record low catch of just over 100 whales from this season’s Antarctic hunt. You can read the full article here.
You can find the 60 Minutes Story ‘Roam Free’ and footage of the inside of meat chicken sheds here. You can view the reporter discussion here.
Photo courtesy of The Age. Caption: ‘Disturbing: an abattoir worker lifts a turkey above his head before slamming the bird to the ground.’ Footage has been obtained by Animal Liberation NSW of alleged cruelty to turkeys at a poultry processing abattoir in NSW. The footage has been handed to police. You can view the Lateline coverage of…
‘Pekin Ducks’ courtesy of Wikimedia Commons (Katie Chodil) The Panel and Animal Liberation NSW last year raised their concerns with the ACCC about the marketing claims of major duck producer, Luv-a-Duck. On 15 March 2013 the ACCC filed proceedings in the Federal Court against Luv-a-Duck Pty Ltd alleging false,misleading and deceptive conduct in relation to the…
Photo courtesy of The Australian. Original picture from AAP. Justice Anthony Kennedy of the US Supreme Court has refused the application by US- based Sea Shepherd Conservation Society to dissolve an interlocutory injunction granted by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals prohibiting the group from sailing within 500 metres of Japanese whaling vessels in the Southern Ocean.…
Bahrain Feed lot – Sheep handlers with training handling sheep Photo courtesy of Animals Australia Further to our report (see below) of the appointment by the Federal Labor Caucus on 27 November 2012 of a Live Animal Export Working Group to develop a model for an Office of Animal Welfare, click here to read the House of…
Photo courtesy of Animals Australia. New footage has emerged capturing the cruel treatment of bobby calves at a Victorian abbatoir. The footage was aired on Lateline on 1 February 2013. It has stirred debate regarding the treatment of bobby calves in Australia and the laws which govern how they may be treated. You can view the…
Photo courtesy of ABC Online. Original photo from Juni Kriswanto, AFP. ABC Online: ‘Workers unload cattle using ropes hanging around their necks in Surabaya, East Java.’ New photographs have been taken of cattle being treated cruelly in Indonesia. One photo depicts cattle being lifted off a boat by a crane with rope tied around their heads.…
Photo courtesy of the ABC article reproduced below, and sourced from Australian Customs Service Japanese whaling vessels reported to have departed for yearly hunt It has been reported that three Japanese vessels have left port for the annual whale hunt, and that a fourth is soon to join. You can read the details in this ABC…
Photo courtesy of Animals Australia Crowded … ducks on a farm that supplies Pepe’s Ducks (Photo: Steve Siewert) Pepe’s Ducks has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay $400,000 following misleading claims that its ducks were raised in an “open range” environment and “grown nature’s way”. You can read the full story here. You can read…
Photo courtesy of ABC TV: 7.30 Report. A cow is poked with a cattle prod in the Israeli abattoir. The ABC1 4 Corners program, Another Bloody Business, screened on 5 November 20, exposed the circumstances of the brutal Pakistani sheep slaughter where sheep rejected by Bahrain (for alleged disease) were re-routed to Pakistan, an unapproved destination when the shipment left Fremantle. The ABC 1 7.30 program, Israeli…
With her appointment as legal counsel for Animals Australia, Shatha Hamade has been succeeded as National Co-ordinator by Anastasia Smietanka, previously her Deputy. The Panel will continue to work closely with Shatha in her new role with Animals Australia. Anastasia has been with the Panel for over 3 years. Prior to her role as National…
At its meeting on 27 November 2012, the Federal Labor Caucus appointed a Live Animal Export Working Group to develop a model for an Office of Animal Welfare and to report back to the Caucus with recommendations by February 2012. Amongst the Working Group’s aims, it will consider the role an Office would play in…
On 18 October 2012, Panel Barristers Graeme McEwen and Melissa Perry QC and BAWP Secretriat member Jed Goodfellow spoke at the Animal Law Symposium titled ‘Animal Law: Tomorrow’s Law: The Future of Animal Law.’ The Symposium was co-hosted by Macquarie University and RSPCA Australia. You can view Graeme McEwen’s speech on strategic litigation here. Unfortunately, only about…
New Zealand is to phase out battery hens by 2022. The new Code of Conduct will allow hens to be kept in colony cages – a larger cage – or in barns. Whilst greater freedom for hens is to be welcomed, the Panel favours free range egg hens. In Australia, the dramatic increase in market…
We are delighted to report that the Panel’s National Co-ordinator, Shatha Hamade, was announced by the Law Council of Australia on Friday 21 September in Adelaide as Australian Young Lawyer of the Year 2012. It is a singular achievement, and reflects Shatha’s dedication and unique abilities. It is also a sign of how the animal…
Some 100 people attended the launch by former High Court justice, The Hon Michael Kirby AC CMG, of Graeme McEwen’s e-book, Animal Law: Principles and Frontiers, (published at this website) on Friday 27 July 2012. The launch was held at the Victorian Bar’s Essoign Club, here are photos taken at the event. Photos: Jayne Moberley…