THE live export industry is reporting that a new dawn is arriving fast, with the likelihood that up to 90 per cent of Australian animals sent to Indonesia could be stunned pre-slaughter by the year’s end.
PT Elders Indonesia Managing Director, Dick Slaney, told Rural Press that animal welfare standards had been moving in the right direction since the government’s suspension of the trade in June, thanks to a rapid uptake of stunning.
However, Mr Slaney said moves on stunning were already in motion before the suspension, with Elders submitting applications to Indonesian government officials, to establish a structure which would allow it to import and distribute more stunning devices in abattoirs.
He said the delays in being able to use pre-slaughter stunning weren’t due to resistance from Indonesia religious authorities - rather it was lengthy bureaucratic delays frustrating the necessary business registrations.
Mr Slaney said Elders had imported about 50 Cash Knocker stunning devices from Australia and the UK over the past two months with up to 40 already distributed, with some abattoirs ordering two - keeping one spare as back-up.
He said another 20 have been ordered and expected to arrive by the end of November.
Two other Indonesian companies, part-owned by the Consolidated Pastoral Company, have imported about 30 pneumatic stun guns - 16 are already operational with plans to have 22 in place by December.
Mr Slaney said about 70 abattoirs were now set to be stunning by late December.
In comparison, only five large processing facilities used stunning prior to the suspension.
In addition to the stun guns, power-loads – the caps used in the stunners to drive the bolt which stuns the cattle, have to be imported.
The power-loads require special permit approvals from Indonesian police and customs, which has been the major sticking point for stunning up to now, as they are treated as dangerous goods.
A monthly report is required to inform the police both where the power-loads were distributed to and how many have been used.
Mr Slaney said 50,000 power-loads had already been imported and he is expecting applications to approve a further 250,000 to arrive early January.
Once installed properly, 100 per cent of the cattle that go to the 70 abattoirs must be processed by pre-slaughter stunning.
“This rapid uptake of stunning should appease not only the animal rights groups that want to shut down our industry but also the cattlemen and other industry people back in Australia, who want to ensure their cattle are treated as humanely as possible, throughout the entire supply chain.”
Stunning is not only helping appease animal welfare concerns, it’s also speeding up the slaughter process, saving time and money for Indonesian abattoirs.
Mr Slaney said stunning was shaving two to three hours a night off slaughter processing times and getting beef products into wet markets faster.
He said the abattoir workers were “over the moon” with the improved uptake of stunning because their work-places were now safer and more efficient.
