Collars are shockingly cruel

Dear Editor,

The Northern Territory government is condoning animal cruelty through the use of electric shock collars. The collars are activated by GPS if the cattle try to get to pastures across unfenced areas - a recognition that graziers have so many animals spread over such vast stations that they are unable to keep them safe.

The collars deliver a shock that has been compared to being stabbed in the neck. Bizarrely, the cattle exploiters have claimed that this form of torture is safer than electric fencing, (which unsurprisingly is more expensive to install) as if these were the only two options. This logic reminds me of a teacher I had several decades ago who would claim he was being generous for hitting us with a cane, because as a child, he used to be hit with a strap. Use of either on children today would be grounds for assault charges, and use of electricity against gentle animals trying to find food in inhospitable areas is animal abuse.

If these devices are so benign, let’s see the graziers wearing them as a demonstration. And if they can’t look after animals without brutalising them, then they should not be allowed to have them. Of course we don’t need graziers to do the right thing if we do – we have the power to stop the abuse of animals by refusing to eat them.

Desmond Bellamy
Special Projects Coordinator
PETA Australia
PO Box 2352
Byron Bay NSW 2481
0411 577 416
desmondb@peta.org.au