The real story about animal abuse

I am lucky enough these days that my various community roles often see exposed to a diverse array of people in the community that give me the opportunity to widen my world view and gain some amazing insights that I can share with the the people who produce food and fibre and the people who consume and wear it

Today I joined the NSW Farmers Animal Well Being committee to hear a presentation by NSW RSPCA Chief Inspector David O’Shannessy

David provided the committee with some statistics that RSPCA  NSW are compiling for their 2013 report  to the Minister which I will share with you once the Minister has made the report public knowledge.

What David did confirm to me is the amount misinformation in the community about animal abuse and who the real bad guys are.

If I said to you for example that over 60% of complaints to the RSPCA are about mistreatment of companion dogs and horses would you be surprised?,

And that most prosecutions relate to what RSPCA refer to as animal hoarders. That is people who see themselves as “rescuers” of animals which in the main means people who ‘collect’ animals like cats and dogs and retired greyhounds and trotters in flabbergasting numbers and have no capacity to feed or house them would you be surprised?

On top of this complaints and prosecutions against commercial farmers completely pale in significance

That in the main it is people with a mindset ( not notoriety ) that are the main offenders not farmers.

Those people who live in houses where you wipe your shoes leaving the house rather than going in that are the animal abusers not farmers as radical animal activists would have us believe.

I am not saying that every farmer is committed to best practice but its seriously time the radical animal activists acknowledged the majority are .

If we truly care about animal wellbeing its time to acknowledge where the real problem is and commit our resources and donations to the organisations who are going to deliver the best outcomes for animals not newspaper and TV exposure

Author: Lynne Strong

I am a 6th generation farmer who loves surrounding myself with optimistic, courageous people who believe in inclusion, diversity and equality and embrace the power of collaboration. I am the founder of Picture You in Agriculture. Our team design and deliver programs that inspire pride in Australian agriculture and support young people to thrive in business and life View all posts by Lynne Strong