The Australian Jewish News - Life (p. 3)
Written by Mark Franklin

If there is any irony in a Jewish man leading the fight for more humane farming of pigs, it doesn't bother Brian Sherman. All animals deserve humane treatment, he says, and pigs are no dif­ferent.

"Pigs no longer live in the Old MacDonald nursery rhyme, but in steel pens so small that they cannot take a step forwards or backwards through­out their whole existence," he says. "They never see the outdoors and they're totally deprived of life."

This is a social revolution... it's a question of raising the public's awareness in order to get real change." BRIAN SHERMAN - Animal-rights activist

Sherman, with his daughter Ondine, is co-director of Voiceless - a not-for-profit organisation the two launched in May 2004 - whose mission is to "lift the veil of secrecy so that people know what is going on" in factory farms.

He says social acceptance of cruel farming conditions has led to animals being treated like slaves with "no rights and no intrinsic value".

Two weeks ago, Voiceless dished out $245,000 worth of grants to 25 organisations involved in animal-rights campaigns. They had received applica­tions from more than 200 organisa­tions, and a judging panel selected the most worthy campaigns for funding.

Voiceless also lobbies politicians and is aiming to raise awareness within the legal fraternity of the lack of rights for animals. The only current legal limita­tion refers to "unnecessary pain", which is determined by the livestock industry itself. "So whatever the indus­try decides is okay by the law," Sherman says. "They are effectively exempt from the anti-cruelty laws."

The organisation's primary mission is to educate the public, particularly children. Next year, it will deliver educa­tion packages and teaching aides to schools around the country, encourag­ing teachers to help students "under­stand the sentience of animals - that they are beings with needs and not inanimate objects", as Sherman puts it.

"This is something that every kid intrinsically knows, but as they grow older, they are socialised to accept that it is okay to kill them, eat them, experiment on them, put them in jails or zoos, or to use them for entertainment."

What is needed, he says, is to entire­ly change the status quo. "This is a social revolution - much like the aboli­tion of slaves, who were objects in law as animals are today - and it's a question of raising the public's awareness in order to get real change."

Sherman - who is among Australia's leading businessmen, hav­ing held directorial positions with com­panies including Equitylink, Channel 10, SOCOG, and the Australian Museum Trust - has had a lifelong affinity with animals, which is why he feels an "obligation" to do something about their suffering.

"When  one  acquires  traumatic knowledge as I have done about the lives and suffering of animals in factory farms then it's pretty difficult to nothing ... Animals are at our mercy."

Having been a vegetarian for more than 25 years, he says even small things - like refusing to eat meat raised in factory farms - can make a difference.

"If you do eat meat, then ask for free range, be it chicken, eggs, or an animal that has been raised in a factory farm. And ask your retailer to supply and to label meat that is free range," he said.

The Sherman family primarily funds Voiceless by itself, although other corporate firms have recently also come on board. The organisation's patron is award-winning novelist JM Coetzee and its ambassador is Hugo Weaving.

For more information visit http://www.voiceless.org.au/.

Did you like this article? Share it!