Voiceless’s submission to the Senate Inquiry into Climate Change and the Australian Agricultural Sector highlights the urgent need for a national strategy to deal with the overwhelmingly negative effect that intensive farming practices have, not only on the Australian environment, but on climate change generally.

Take one steel water pipe or tow bar and bludgeon
‘with force sufficient to crush the skull and destroy the brain .’ [1]

Australia’s attention may currently be focused on the killing of whales and dolphins by the Japanese or the slaughter of seals in Canada but the largest massacre of land based animals on the planet is taking place in our own backyard.

Voiceless applauds the Australian Law Reform Commission for devoting the current edition of its twice yearly publication, Reform, to the subject of Animal Law.

Today, Voiceless announced its seventeen grant recipients for 2007, each of whom will be receiving amounts ranging from $15,000 to $1,500 for projects that aim to improve the lives of animals. The winner of the second annual Animal Club ‘Humane School Prize’ was also announced with all the awards being presented by internationally acclaimed actor and Voiceless Ambassador, Hugo Weaving. Voiceless Patron, Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee also wrote a special message of support which was read out by Hugo Weaving after the presentations.

A new Bill that seeks to remove the right of private parties to commence proceedings for animal cruelty crimes will be a major setback for animals in NSW, leading animal protection group Voiceless, the fund for animals, said today.

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment (Prosecutions) Bill 2007, which was introduced into NSW Parliament earlier this week, proposes to limit the right to initiate proceedings to the RSPCA, the Animal Welfare League, the Police and those approved by the Minister or the Director-General of the Department of Primary Industries.