A Meat and Dairy Article from All-Creatures.org



Brutal Treatment of Feral Goats

From Sandra Isobel Kyle
Facebook posting, December 9, 2022

The driver’s simmering hatred and resentment built during the long and difficult journey, and by the time he got to the slaughterhouse he was in a rage. As he said to the judge who convicted him to a $3,500 fine for animal cruelty this week, “It was always going to end up in carnage.” There should be no stock drivers, because there should be no stock. Animals are not merchandise. Feral goats are not 'pests'.

Baby Goat

The 57-year old stock truck driver didn’t want the job of transporting 580 feral goats to a slaughterhouse. Feral goats are difficult to handle. What’s more, the weather was stormy, the wind and rain relentless, and they had to board a ferry and travel to Wellington over choppy seas. He was reluctant, but his bosses said he had to do it, so he did.

It took him some time to travel to the property and load the goats, a mix of adults and kids, onto his truck. Crammed in with virtually no room to move, they then embarked on the 12 hours plus journey to Wellington. The driver was nervous. With poor visibility and slippery roads, he had to drive his large hauler carefully over the twists and turns. He claimed he checked on the goats twice during the journey, but evidently didn't do a thorough job. Lying dead and dying, trampled under panicking feet, a number of adults and kids had already expired.

The driver’s simmering hatred and resentment built during the long and difficult journey, and by the time he got to the slaughterhouse he was in a rage. As he said to the judge who convicted him to a $3,500 fine for animal cruelty this week, “It was always going to end up in carnage.”

CCTV footage recorded this man dragging a dying adult goat by her legs and throwing her onto the unloading ramp. She landed on two kids standing there on their little legs, afraid, not knowing what to do. The dying goat tried to stand but couldn’t, and lay on her sides moving her legs and head. The driver then stormed back in to the truck and hauled some more dead adult goats over the top of the kids, dragging one of them along underneath.

And so it continued. Injuries and broken bones resulted to at least nine of the live goats and it was in pain that they hobbled to their deaths.

It is unrealistic to expect stock truck drivers to be animal lovers. I have seen them many times being rough with their charges. Too often I have witnessed drivers jabbing cows multiple times with electric prods, anger and frustration showing on their faces. They (and slaughterhouse workers) jeer at them, yell and yah at them, kick them, curse them. I once said to a driver of a pig truck that the pigs he was carrying were overheated and panting.

“What do you expect?” he replied incredulous. “It’s a hot day!”

The driver who transported the goats probably had other issues in his life that were stressing him out. We are all human. But there is never any reason to take our frustrations out on innocent animals.

There should be no stock drivers, because there should be no stock. Animals are not merchandise. Feral goats are not 'pests'.

The carnage that resulted last May came about because as a society we make a difference between our pets and animals we farm for food, or we think need to be 'culled'.

It is a false dichotomy. All animals are sentient, and the sooner we stop treating them as commodities for our own selfish purposes, the better our society will be.

I hope that driver is prevented from working with animals ever again.


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