AMIC reacts against "Animal Terrorism"
Animal Terrorism has spread from Europe to another region in the world, Australia, where farms and butcher shops are targeted often by vandals.
Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) has expressed its disgust with an activist who vandalized a butcher shop in Brisbane on June 5 and has called on the government to recognize that anti-meat activism is affecting businesses across the supply chain and must be stamped out.
The Australian Meat Industry Council (AMIC) represents retailers, processors and smallgoods manufacturers and is the only industry association representing the post-farmgate Australian meat industry. This morning, the staff at AMIC member Clancyjames' butcher shop in upscale Taringa, arrived to find fake blood, smashed glass made to look like bullet holes and a spray-painted messaging declaring 'meat is murder'.
AMIC CEO Patrick Hutchinson says enough is enough.
"We are simply disgusted by this," he says. "Once again we see activists targeting legally operating businesses. Just a couple of months ago activists closed down a busy intersection in Melbourne and broke into a number of premises, only to walk away with a slap on the wrist. It sends absolutely the wrong message.
"We're heartened to know that our new Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie is on board with much tougher penalties for agri-activists but it is critical that this is not limited only to on-farm activism. As we've seen today in Brisbane, there are other businesses feeling the brunt of this disgraceful behavior."
Australia's meat sector provides 55,000 full-time jobs. It is worth $22 billion annually and meat is the seventh-largest export commodity in the country.
AMIC's Patrick Hutchinson says it's time for penalties against activists to reflect community values.
"Of course people are entitled to their own views, but illegally entering facilities is just not okay. It creates biosecurity risks, it leads to breaches of privacy, it is potentially unsafe for the activists themselves and, at the end of the day, it puts at risk jobs in regional communities. We need immediate action to deliver for tougher fines and jail terms to curb this unlawful activity. These activists are criminals and they need to be treated like it," he says.
During 2018, similar incidents were reported in Spain and France, where butcher shops, slaughterhouses, and small meat processing plants were vandalized by different organizations who are pretending to fight for animal welfare.
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