Nick Pendergrast from ARA was interviewed by Howard Sattler on 6PR recently. With the Perth Royal Show and Be Kind to Animals Week both beginning on the 1st of October, Pendergrast responds to questions from Sattler about the farm animals people will be seeing at the Perth Royal Show and who also end up on people's plates.

Nick Pendergrast on 6PR for Be Kind to Animals Week, 30 Sep 2011 by AnimalRightsAdvocatesInc

MEDIA RELEASE - 29/9/11

The face behind your food

For many West Australians, the Perth Royal Show is the only time they ever come face to face with living farm animals so Perth animal rights group Animal Rights Advocates (ARA) is calling on everyone to make the connection between the sentient creatures they enjoy patting in the pavilions and the animal products they end up eating or wearing.

ARA spokesperson Nick Pendergrast said the coincidence of Be Kind to Animals Week and the Royal Show, which both begin on 1 October, was the ideal opportunity for people to consider the double standard we maintain when it comes to animals.

“There was widespread public outrage at the footage of cows being tortured in Indonesia, and there is ongoing Australian opposition to Japanese whaling and Chinese bears being milked for their bile, yet as a society we condone the killing of millions of farmed animals,” said Mr Pendergrast.

“Everyone accepts that their pets are sentient beings, that is they’re self-aware individuals with likes and dislikes and an ability to experience sensations such as pleasure and pain, but we remain blinkered about animals we haven’t invited into our homes.”
Mr Pendergrast said that studies have consistently shown that when it comes to being unique individuals who value their own life, farmed animals such as pigs, cattle and chickens are no different to the cats and dogs that we pamper.

“Animals we’ve chosen to farm have complex lives, if they are given the opportunity to live them,” he said. “They form lifelong bonds, grieve for their loved ones and develop complex social relationships.

“In a modern society we don’t need to kill animals for our health or survival. As Mahatma Ghandi, whose birthday coincides with World Farm Animal Day on October 2, said: ‘The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way in which its animals are treated.’ The best way people can embrace the spirit of Be Kind to Animals Week is by going vegan and thus choosing not to demand the death of an animal just for the sake of their palate,” said Mr Pendergrast.