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A broiler chicken sitting amongst fellow chickens.

Three animals who need ‘a fair go’.

Will you stand up for the animals forced to endure short, painful lives in Australian farms and slaughterhouses?

Animals Australia

Animals Australia team

Last updated November 4, 2024

Imagine if cats or dogs were intentionally bred to grow so rapidly that it caused them pain, had their tails cut off without any pain relief, or were kept from seeing sunlight until the last day of their lives…

It’s illegal to treat cats and dogs this way, but for animals bred into our food system, such treatment is legal and routine.

Australia’s animal welfare system is broken; with standards and policies prioritising profits, millions of animals across the country are exposed to cruelty that compassionate consumers wouldn’t condone. Change for these animals is long overdue. Now, the Fair Go for Animals campaign, launched by the Australian Alliance for Animals, is uniting caring people across the country to urge the government to build a fairer system.

Here are three animals who desperately need ‘a fair go’:

1. Lambs who have their tails and surrounding skin cut off

Very cute little lamb standing on grass
Lambs are born with long tails, just like puppies – but in Australia's wool and meat industry, lambs have their tails and surrounding skin sliced off.
Image Credit: istock – royalty-free

This image contains content which some may find confronting.

While countries like New Zealand have banned this cruel practice, Australia is still allowing lambs to be 'mulesed'.
Image Credit: PETA

In Australia, lambs are still subjected to live lamb cutting (also known as ‘mulesing’). Usually around 2-10 weeks of age, terrified lambs are separated from their mothers and physically restrained, so that the skin surrounding their tails can be cut off. This painful procedure is the wool and meat industry’s ‘solution’ to preventing flystrike, an issue exacerbated by human practices for which more humane options exist. Often, lambs endure other painful procedures at the same time, such as ear tagging, tail docking, and castration. Millions of lambs endure this every year without any pain relief whatsoever.

2. Piglets who spend their short lives inside factory farms

Very young piglets in a dark factory farm, standing on a hard floor.
A mother pig would naturally build a nest for her piglets. In factory farms, piglets are born onto hard floors in barren crates.
Image Credit: Compassion in World Farming
A ghostly grey image of two pigs inside a metal cage as it's being filled with carbon dioxide. One terrified pig is looking up gasping for air.
After short 'lives', most pigs in Australia spend their final moments terrified and gasping for air inside gas chambers.
Image Credit: Farm Transparency Project

Young piglets are also forced to endure painful procedures without any pain relief – such as having their tails cut off, and their teeth cut – to minimise biting-related injuries that may arise from boredom and frustration. Most of these sensitive, social animals spend the entirety of their unnaturally short lives deprived of everything that makes a life worth living. Then, at just a small fraction of their natural lifespan, they are forced into crowded gassing chambers in Australian slaughterhouses.

3. Chickens who are forced to grow unnaturally fast

A broiler chicken sitting amongst fellow chickens.
Chickens naturally love to dustbathe, forage, and explore – but trapped inside factory farms, in unnaturally large bodies, 'meat' chickens are deprived of ever experiencing these behaviours.
'Broiler' chickens crowded in a factory farm, struggling to stand up.
Despite causing extreme animal welfare issues, the rapid growth imposed on broiler chickens is standard across all farming systems, including free range, organic and RSPCA-Approved.
Image Credit: Farm Transparency Project

Broiler chickens, bred for their meat, have been manipulated to grow so rapidly that they reach ‘slaughter weight’ in just six short weeks. This cruel, accelerated growth leads to debilitating health issues; many suffer from painful conditions, become so heavy they can hardly move, or die on the floor of the factory farms.

The stories of these animals are sadly not unique – they are the stories of the millions of animals bred into profit-driven industries across our nation each year. Australia’s existing animal welfare system is failing them. There are conflicts of interest amongst government decision-makers, inconsistencies in regulations across states and territories, loopholes in laws, and standards that ignore science and community expectations.

Animals deserve better.

Paving the way to a kinder, fairer future for animals

The Australian Alliance for Animals – an alliance of Australia’s key animal protection organisations, including Animals Australia – is striving to create much-needed, systemic change for animals.

Through six crucial reforms, the Alliance’s Fair Go for Animals (FGFA) campaign proposes a new framework to build a fairer and more independent animal welfare governance system in Australia.

  1. Ministerial recognition: Currently, the same departments and ministers responsible for increasing the productivity and profitability of animal agriculture are also tasked with safeguarding animal welfare. Appointing dedicated Ministers for Animal Welfare will reduce conflicts of interest.
  2. A National Animal Welfare Commission: The creation of an independent body to ensure unbiased oversight will make the system truly independent. 
  3. State Animal Welfare Authorities: The establishment of dedicated government authorities will uphold animal welfare laws in each state. 
  4. Decision-making principles and sentience recognition: The law currently doesn’t require decision-makers to consider scientific evidence or community expectations when setting standards. Embedding guiding decision-making principles into animal welfare legislation and recognising animals as sentient beings with intrinsic value can address this. 
  5. Fair and accountable animal welfare standards processes: Creating new standard-setting and decision-making processes to ensure transparency and accountability. 
  6. Adequate funding: Allocating proper funding for animal welfare services in line with community expectations. 

Will you help give animals a fair go?

The animals who are exempt from protections so that they can be used for profit desperately need Australia’s animal welfare system to change – and you have the power to help reshape it.

  1. Strengthen the collective voice for change: Head to the Australian Alliance for Animals and take the Fair Go for Animals pledge today.
  2. After taking the pledge, find out how you can be the change you wish to see in the world: Order your free compassionate living guide here.

This image contains content which some may find confronting

A happy sheep getting an affectionate scratch on the chin.
Together, we can build a system that reflects our values – one that treats animals with the dignity and respect they deserve.
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