Activists Shut Down Slaughterhouse… For Nothing

In what some say is a huge win “for the animals”, activists “shut down” a slaughterhouse in Gleneagle, Queensland.

For a whole four hours.

Yes, you read that right. 4 hours.

In the scheme of things, that’s hardly being shut down now is it?

The stunt was organised by Animal Liberation Queensland and Aussie Farms.

They claim it was done to bring awareness to the plight of bobby calves, and encourage people to “ditch dairy”.

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What Could They Have Achieved?

Now this is where people are going to get upset.

If the stunt was better organised, they could have achieved so much more.

Actually Liberated An Animal

For a start, Animal Liberation Queensland could have lived up to their name, and actually liberated an animal.

Unfortunately for the animals, Animal Liberation Queensland have shown much more important ‘fame’ is to them.

Think about that for a minute.

There were allegedly over 80 activists there.

60 outside and 20 odd inside.

I am sure that between them, they could have negotiated the release of two or three calves.

This would also give heaps of people bragging rights with future selfies.

They could take a pic and say something like, “look how awesome we are, this is the calf we saved from slaughter”.

(Oops. Maybe they didn’t think that far ahead).

Come on, I mean if they can organise to all be wearing the same t-shirt, surely they could have organised a home for a few rescued calves.

Demanded Food/Water

Did you see any reports of the chained up activists demanding that the animals be fed?

Nope. I didn’t either.

How much more ‘social media cred’ could they have built up if they had have demanded that before coming out?

If the slaughterhouse refused the request, how much negative publicity would that create?

Actually Promoted Veganism

Now this is a contentious issue among ‘activists’.

Should they be promoting ‘single issues’, or should they be promoting veganism.

Take a look at all the ‘major’ photos from the ‘stunt’.

They all feature the ‘ditch dairy’ branding, rather than any sort of vegan message.

This shows me that they are more interested in promoting that brand than getting people interested in veganism.

Not something that you would expect from “animal rights activists” or “vegan groups”, now is it?

What DID They Achieve?

Let me tell you, this was a ‘huge’ event for Queensland.

Activists came from all over the country to take part. (Yet those who are the most “active” in Queensland we ignored).

So, in terms of social media ‘presence’ the event was a huge success.

Appeared In Mainstream Media

Yep, the ‘shut down’ was mentioned in a few online ‘newspapers’.

They also got a 2 minute segment on Channel 10 news, and 30 seconds on 7’s news program.


Attracted A Social Media ‘Personality’

YouTube ‘personality’ Joey Carbstrong turned up, said a few words, and had some pics taken.

Raised Awareness

(This is debatable).

Let’s be honest here.

How much ‘awareness’ can a 2 minute news segment raise when it happens during an election campaign?

If all this means the stunt was a success, then the bar has been set way too low.

There was no mention of ‘going vegan’, or what alternatives to dairy are available.

Stopped Production For 4 Hours

Despite what they will have you believe, the slaughterhouse wasn’t shut down.
Production was stopped for four hours.

It is highly likely that once production started again, it was business as usual. Possibly, with the same number of animals slaughtered as any other day.

This would have been done by workers working overtime, or under pressure to make up for lost time.

(Captive bolt stunning is inaccurate at the best of times. How much accurate do you think it will be when production pressure is applied?)

Remember, the catalyst for this ‘stunt’ was footage of a calf that appeared to be incorrectly stunned.

Worth Mentioning

One of the items raised during the ‘stunt’ was that the person seen kicking the calf in the video be sacked.

Seriously?

Are these people adults or spoilt children having a tantrum?

What would a sacking have actually achieved?

Taken away the person’s source of income causing them to go on unemployment benefits.

Sacking someone on a whim like this is actually in breach of the Fair Work Act.

A successful unfair dismissal application could result in the former employee being reinstated, or receiving a substantial payout.

I would also like to know how anyone there could be smiling and cheering after spending 4 hours in a slaughterhouse.

And knowing that NOT ONE ANIMAL was rescued.

What Can You Do?

Pay attention to what you are doing, and the stunts you participate in.

Remember, while it is said every little bit helps, the opposite is also true.

Every little bit hurts and hinders.

When you ‘do something’, promote veganism.

Not ‘go veg’.
Not Veg*n.
Not reducetarianism.

Talk to the person about veganism.

You can even ask them to ‘go vegan’.

If you don’t ask, the answer will also be no.

If you automatically ass-u-me that they won’t go vegan, how will they hear about it?

Don’t become a participant in the corruption of the animal rights movement.

Choose ethics over entertainment.

Choose veganism over baby-steps.

And finally.

Be politically incorrect.
Think for yourself.

What are your thoughts?