Australia Day
Mary had a little lamb
It's fleece was white as snow
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go
And then a farmer came one day
And took the lamb away
He cut its throat and chopped it up
All for Australia Day
(Excerpt from “Animal Poetry" by James Larkin)
Prompted by constant promotions by livestock farmers and the meat industry the annual Australia Day (January 26) celebrations are sadly seen by many as a day to stage a BBQ and eat meat - usually lamb.
Intensive mass media advertising of lamb for Australia Day - sometimes makes me wonder why they don't rename it Lamb Eating Day.
Overall it's estimated that up to 19 million lambs and up to 7 million sheep are slaughtered annually in Australia for needless meals.
A sheep's natural life can last 12 years but in the meat industry it is only 18 months. The poor lambs are murdered between six and 12 months old.
If you have ever seen or played with lambs and sheep you'll know what lovely gentle creatures they are. What a lot of people don't know is that they are highly intelligent and what a lot of people forget is that they are sentient beings same as us. They feel love and joy, pain and fear.
They can see colour and remember your face, have individual personalities,
And the saddest thing of all is there is no need to eat them - or any animal. Other foods provide everything we need.
Studies by Professor Keith Kendrick of Gresham College, London, found sheep can distinguish between different facial expressions in humans and can detect changes in the faces of anxious sheep. He found they can recognise the faces of at least 50 other sheep and 50 images for up to two years.
At the University of Bristol Professor John Webster found that, like humans, sheep visibly express emotions like depression and fear.
Sheep and lambs can be affectionate, playful and puppy-like, wagging their tails when stoked. They are intelligent, social, emotional beings - and we cut their throats, hang them upside down, cut them up and eat them.
So on Australia Day please spare a thought for sheep and all other farm animals. You could even have a no meat day and make it a really special Australia Day.
