You know, something diabolical has happened to our sensibilities as we use animals to feed ourselves. We have lost something in the process. It’s called CONSCIENCE.
I don’t know how dairy farmers can lie straight in bed, when they kill the babies … just as the baby seals are killed for their fur, these poor little animals don’t even get a chance to grow a pelt, let alone have time to be alive!!!! Where are we going as a species, to use other creatures in such callous, cruel ways? I am beyond disgusted, I’m appalled and ashamed. GET A CONSCIENCE FOR GODS SAKE, ALL THOSE IN THE DAIRY INDUSTRY.
Friday at 18:19
I don’t blame Sally Hook for that comment posted on the Bush Telegraph Facebook page. Her response to the reported dairy practices was very typical and I’d feel the same way if I wasn’t better informed. Sally and every other Australian has a right to know her food is ethically produced and if we dairy farmers feel slighted by the comments that misinformation brings, we only have ourselves to blame.
Farmers are understandably wary of the vitriol that drips from the tongues of many animal activists. But that is no excuse to keep people in the dark. Nor can we leave it to our “leaders” to communicate with the rest of the world because it is impossible to delegate telling your own story. Sally needs to hear it from the horse’s mouth, no matter how scary that might be for us.
At the same time, I’m hoping the animal activists will also take a step closer to the table. Sally did. After two days of online “talks” with real farmers, as distinct from agripoliticians, she posted this comment:
I urge the good people of the dairy industry to keep pushing.
Sunday 2 hours ago
We can and must build bridges with Australians who share our passion for animals. Defending the indefensible minority, as industry people caught like rabbits in the spotlight tried and failed miserably to do on national radio, is not only morally bankrupt but counterproductive in the extreme.
Sally is right. The good people of the dairy industry must keep pushing.
The Milk Maid Marian 
In the meat and dairy production industry, when are the animals ever the winners?
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Our animals roam the paddocks yet are protected from predators, treated promptly when ill, spared the ravages of parasites and fed no matter how harsh the drought. I’d say they were winners (especally when they get brekkie and dinner before we do!).
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I was thinking about the negativity surrounded by this radio broadcast, and I think there will be some very positive outcomes. Sometimes conflict helps us to highlight what is important and rallies action. Continue your fabulous work Marion, as someone who does not dodge the hard issues and highlights with integrity, the good people of the dairy industry!
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Thanks for your encouragement, Lisa!
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This is due to some phenomenal percentage of the population having no connection whatsoever with rural Australia, beyond an annual drive a hundred km or so beyond the capital city limits. And something like a quarter of Australians have NEVER done even that.
Combine that with being so far removed from producing their own food, & they begin to get all squeamish about how food is actually produced.
A tremendous number of metropolitan kids have never seen a vegetable grow, a chook lay, or picked a grape or passionfruit from a vine. They are unaware of the origins of these things.
TV ads (you’ve all seen the genre) that show happy farmers, clad in bib-fronted overalls, driving rustic trucks (1940’s vintage) around a farm, or driving the same delivering their produce to market in a couple of wicker baskets, this sort of stuff is the only information many have about the origin of food.
One can imagine their shock to discover that reality is a tad less romantic, a whole lot more earthy (and isn’t even in technicolour like an old Disney movie).
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Ha, ha, so true but I think there are lots of really intelligent Aussies who have the sense to see through the wicker-basket facade and want to know more but aren’t sure where to find the truth. The question is: are we providing the answers?
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