Darwin – As the 2 February deadline looms for public submissions in response to an inquiry into crocodile welfare in Australia, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is urging Australians to have their say. The group has submitted its own recommendations and is encouraging supporters to call on the government to shut the industry down.
In its submission, PETA criticises the sanctioned harvesting of eggs from the wild, noting that mother crocodiles are maternal and caring. It also points out that on farms, crocodiles are not given enrichment or enough space to live in and that they are violently slaughtered for the sake of frivolous fashion accessories.
“Australia must stop living in the ignorance of the past and immediately review the science of crocodile behaviour – including their fondness for play, parenting, and roaming territories and their need for space and socialisation – and mandate new guidelines that would afford crocodiles, at the very least, more space and enrichment to partially mimic their natural habitats,” writes PETA. “The industry must also install 24-hour CCTV in all Australia’s crocodile operations to ensure compliance with new guidelines and monitor the treatment of the animals at the time of restraint and slaughter.”
Furthermore, PETA has called for the word “humane” to be removed from the title of any future code of practice “to reflect that the crocodile farming business is not – and never can be – humane, even with the major improvements we feel compelled to suggest”. The group adds, “The entire enterprise is inherently inhumane, and titling any welfare guidelines in a way to suggest otherwise is disingenuous.”
Meanwhile, in a submission to the Victorian government regarding pig welfare standards, PETA is calling for more space and enrichment for pigs, a ban on sow stalls and farrowing crates, and an end to routine mutilations and carbon dioxide gassing.
PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat, wear, or use in any other way” – opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.au and follow the group on Facebook and Instagram.
Contact:
Sascha Camilli Media@peta.org.au
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