Footage has emerged of what is believed to be Australian cattle being bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer in a Vietnamese abattoir.
One of the videos shows a distressed cow, with a rope around its neck, being beaten on the head with a sledgehammer. The cow falls to the ground and is beaten again until it is dead.
In the footage aired on ABC’s 7.30 on Thursday night, workers in the non-approved abattoir then pull another cow out of a caged area to receive the same treatment. The animal appears frightened and is then bludgeoned to death.
The federal government said the videos showed “abhorrent animal cruelty” and launched an immediate investigation.
The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources said there was no reason to doubt that the animals were exported from Australia.
Animals Australia released the video on Thursday after making an official complaint to the department on 9 June, claiming that Australian cattle were being supplied to non-approved abattoirs in the Phu Xuyen district near Hanoi.
The group also said that handling and slaughter practices in approved Vietnamese abattoirs in the so-called exporter supply chain assurance system (ESCAS) did not meet ESCAS standards.
Lisa Chalk, a spokeswoman for Animals Australia, said her organisation took similar complaints to the federal government a year ago but nothing was done about it.
“Since then there have been more than a dozen complaints to the department of breaches in Vietnam and, when we went back last month, we found the problem has gotten worse.”
Alison Penfold, the chief executive of the Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council, said the video footage was some of the most graphic she had ever seen.
“This is slaughter at it cruellest and most sickening,” Penfold said. “Of course we don’t condone this practice.
“Australian livestock exporters agree sledgehammering is an abhorrent inhumane practice that has no place in a modern society and must be stamped out.”
Agriculture officials said Australian exporters had been informed of the complaint to enable action to protect the welfare of cattle already in Vietnam.
“The department’s first priority is to ensure the humane handling of all animals exported from Australia,” a Department of Agriculture and Water Resources statement says.
“The department is requiring exporters to review all systems, processes and facilities in their Vietnam supply chains. To date, four exporters have notified the department that they are suspending exports to some of their facilities in Vietnam while they review their ESCAS arrangements.”
Animals Australia investigators said they had documented evidence of Australian cattle being taken to six traditional slaughterhouses 30km from Hanoi where sledgehammering and water-forcing practices occur.
They said tens of thousands of Australian cattle were leaving approved supply chains every year and being sent to China or to traditional slaughterhouses in Vietnam. Thirty thousand Australian breeding and dairy cattle had been exported to Vietnam over the past 12 months.
“These animals have no legal protection from sledgehammering,” Animals Australia said. “The regulatory and traceability system in Vietnam has been corrupted. Ear tags are being scanned, removed and reconciliations falsified.”
The agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce, could not be contacted.
