NSW Farmers have passed an urgency motion about animal cruelty after lengthy debate at its annual conference in Sydney yesterday.
The motion was put forward by NSW Farmers member Richard Croft, Uralla, who said it was important the association "makes a statement" about animal cruelty.
"We need to put the association on the front foot," Mr Croft said.
The motion:
The motion calls swift prosecution of those alleged to have committed acts of animal cruelty, such as the shearer in a video released by animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) last week.
The motion also calls for those claiming to have credible evidence of animal cruelty to be under legal obligation to release that information to the relevant authorities in a timely manner.
This second part of the motion drew the most debate, with many members outraged that PETA sat on its shearing shed footage for several months, only alerting the RSPCA when a media opportunity presented itself.
Others felt this would put a burden on producers who noticed an employee or contractor going too far.
Some members wanted the ability to step in and deal with a problem themselves, without immediately having to report the employee at fault.
Mr Croft said this was not enough, and if a producer saw an employee treating their stock with cruelty, why would they want that employee to continue to have anything to do with the animals?
The motion carried by an overwhelming majority.
