The six month grace period for new livestock transport requirements introduced in January expires today.
The new laws outline the basic principles that everyone transporting livestock must use to protect the welfare of the livestock being transported.
To achieve a nationally consistent approach to livestock transport, the laws now reflect the national standards and all states and territories.
The new laws commenced on January 31, 2014, however, to ensure stakeholders are familiar with the new laws, a six month grace period for enforcement was granted. The grace period expires at the close of business today, July 31.
“The laws apply to the transport of both commercial and non-commercial livestock and start once livestock are assembled prior to loading and continue until the animals are unloaded at the final destination,” Queensland’s Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Allison Crook explained.
“The laws provide standards that animals selected for transport must be fit for the intended journey. It is the responsibility of the people involved to ensure livestock are fit for transport.”
The land transport code applies to the following animals being transported by road, rail or by a road vehicle or container aboard a ship:
- Alpaca
- Buffalo
- Camel
- Cattle
- Sheep
- Goats
- Horses
- Pigs
- Poultry
- Ostriches
- Emus
- Deer
For information on the national livestock transport standards, visit www.animalwelfarestandards.net.au
Source: Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
In 2003 the WA Department of Agriculture and the WA RSPCA produced a small booklet headed “Is it fit to load?”… This was distributed by the hundreds via the WA Livestock Transport Association to the registered members and it was easy to understand with coloured illustrations of livestock that should be NEVER LOADED OR TRANPORTED but when the feed-back from members was analysed by the Dept. over a certain time it indicated that farmers were telling truckies that they had to load all animals that had been rounded up for transport and if they refused the truckies were told that they would never get a job to transport livestock from that property ever again…Would you call this blackmail?…I certainly would!!!
Farmers need to bite the bullet and use a bullet to end the life of animals that are found to be sick, injured or have abnormal growths on their bodies and heads ( IE: cancerous eyes, quite common with cattle) and they should be the ones that all Ag. Departments, State and Federal should be especially educating.