Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council has banned cattle exports to several slaughterhouses after the animal welfare group Animals Australia revealed footage that showed cow being repeatedly hit by a sledgehammer.
In the video, a worker in northern region of Vietnam used the sledgehammer to hit the cow's head five times before it went down and he continued to hit it four more times until the cow died. The undercover investigator of Animals Australia was told that the cow was imported from Australia. It was also discovered that the cows were provided by a company in Haiphong City.
According to the food processing company Vissan, Vietnam imports 3,000 cows each day, HCM City's alone requires 600 cows. Due to lack of supply from local farms, Vietnam has imported cows from Australia, Thailand and Cambodia.
Vissan General Director Van Duc Muoi said that when Vietnam imported 15,000 cows, the animals' well-being as well as their designated slaughterhouses were monitored by Australian counterparts to ensure that they will die peacefully. The Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council banned exporting cows to the identified slaughterhouses in the north after discovering the practice.
Vissan's slaughterhouse
Muoi said the import activities from Australia to HCM City and Dong Nai Province were normal because the slaughterhouses there meet requirements of Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System.
Some people expressed worry that this move might lead to price hike as Vietnam is Australia's second-biggest live cattle importer with more than 180,000 head imported in 2014. The cows from Thailand and Cambodia are imported via border trades and the quality cannot be ensured.
Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry Department Nguyen Xuan Duong said, "We’re co-operating with Vietnamese Embassy in Australia to contact with Australian government to inspect slaughterhouses that have committed cruel practices."
