Seymour abattoir accused of animal cruelty

The footage allegedly shows dairy cattle having their throats cut after ineffective stunning and while still alive.

Farm Transparency executive director Chris Delforce said the group hopes to expose 30 abattoirs by the end of this year.

“We have been investigating many slaughterhouses so far,” Mr Delforce said.

“In February we had hidden cameras installed [at Ralph’s Meat Company] and once we reviewed that footage, we were pretty shocked.”

The group reported the conduct and supplied evidence to meat processing regulator Prime Safe Victoria.

“They then passed that on to the federal agriculture department, because this is national; Ralph’s is an export abattoir,” Mr Delforce said.

“We have been told they have started an investigation, but we don’t know if anything is really happening there.”

The group protested outside Ralph’s Melbourne-based works on Sunday, May 5 and at the Seymour abattoir on Monday, May 6 for three hours.

“We had 20 people outside their gates yesterday [Monday], just letting them know we were watching them,” Mr Delforce said.

Drones were used to film the premises and despite having plans to stop incoming cattle trucks, the group claims it was not being ‘disruptive’.

“We were hoping to spend time inside the trucks with the cattle but that didn’t happen in this instance,” Mr Delforce said.

“We have footage of animals not being stunned properly and there is clear evidence of them having their throats cut and being alive as they were bled out.”

Mr Delforce said the group also opposed the need for dairy farmers to cull their herds of milking cows when they were not as profitable.

“They are so-called spent cows that have served their usefulness and it’s a side to the dairy industry that doesn’t get talked about much,” he said.

“But we have spoken to some dairy farmers who don’t want to do this any more but there is no system from the government to help them get out.

“We think the government can work with dairy farmers to make the transition.”

Farm Transparency recognised that sending retired cows out to retirement pasture would ultimately raise the price of dairy goods.

“And because those prices will rise, we need to give serious assistance to allow people to get out of dairy.

“I think there are so many plant-based alternatives to milk, and they are improving all the time.”

Farm Transparency said it was calling for a temporary closure to Ralph’s Meat Company for an investigation into its current practices.

“We have been told that an investigation has commenced but we have seen no evidence,” Mr Delforce said.

“As long as no temporary closure is happening we are not satisfied with the response.”

A spokesperson from Agriculture Victoria said the department had ‘no tolerance’ for animal cruelty and was working with the Commonwealth to investigate the incident.

A spokesperson from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said the Federal Government was taking animal welfare seriously and had a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach for the abuse of any animals at all export-registered establishments.

“On Friday, March 22, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry received notification of a complaint raised by Animals Australia along with footage purporting to be that of Ralph’s Meats, Seymour, alleging animal welfare concerns,” the spokesperson said.

“The department is reviewing this complaint in line with its regulatory obligations at export registered establishments.”

Ralph’s Meat Company had no comment.