In the following interview, Nick Pendergrast from Animal Rights Advocates responds to questions about animal cruelty from Leanne from Curtin University.

1. What is the purpose of your organisation?

‘Animal Rights Advocates Inc. (ARA) is a volunteer-run not for profit animal rights organisation based in Perth, Western Australia that campaigns for the abolition of animal exploitation' (from ARA's website). This sets us apart from other animal advocacy groups who campaign for other animals to be killed and exploited by humans in supposedly "nicer" ways. This may involve killing animals using a different method or making the cages of animals used by humans bigger. This is not our approach. We want to work towards a situation where other animals are not exploited by humans, regardless of how "humanely" this exploitation is carried out.

2. What action is being taking on regarding animal cruelty by your organisation?

Our general approach is to attempt to reduce the demand for products that involve animal cruelty. All animal products involve cruelty, whether we're taking about meat, dairy, eggs, leather, or whatever else. We encourage people to become vegans, which means not buying products that involve animal cruelty. As less people demand these products, less animals will be harmed and killed to create these products.

We promote veganism in a number of ways, through: information on our website; our vegan mentoring program and Vegan Perth website, which give people practical advice and information to make the transition to veganism easier; information at stalls at universities and public events; creating press releases for the media and being interviewed on various media outlets; events such as our Cruelty Free Festival, which promotes veganism as well as social justice more generally (human rights, environmental sustainability, and so on); as well as our Sentience art exhibition, which encourages people to think about the lives of animals and their sentience (ability to experience sensations such as pleasure and pain).

3. Have the actions that your organization has been taking on had much impact?

It is quite hard to "measure" exactly how many people have become vegan due to the work of our organisation. However, through our vegan mentor program, it is very clear that we are regularly helping people make the transition from consuming animal products to a vegan lifestyle that does not consume any animal products.

4.  What are the main current issues concerning Animal Cruelty in the world today?

There are so many issues. Animals harmed and killed for food is probably the biggest - in terms of the numbers of animals used and killed. But we think all animal suffering and death is important. Veganism doesn't just address animals harmed and killed for food, but for all other uses of animals too. For example, a vegan lifestyle also means avoiding: wearing animal products like leather, buying household products like soaps and shampoos that have been tested on animals, or entertainment that involves the exploitation of animals, such as circuses involving animals. We don't focus on a particular form of animal cruelty, but rather, oppose all animal cruelty and promote a cruelty-free, vegan lifestyle as the alternative.

5. What are the local issues concerning Animal cruelty?

Live export has been a big one recently.

6. Could you please give some insight as to what live animal exporting is?

Live animal exporting refers to animals being sent overseas on ships to places such as the Middle East and Indonesia. This is because there is a demand for live animals in these places.

7. What are your views on live animal exporting?

There is a lot of cruelty involved in live animal exporting. This includes cruelty in transport, animals being harmed prior to slaughter, and of course the slaughter itself. However, I certainly do not believe cruelty is limited to live export. These same problems persist when we kill animals for food in Australia.

For example, we have the cruelty of transport - animals are crammed into trucks that I often see travelling down Perth streets such as Leach Highway. Animal cruelty in transport is not limited to travel between countries - there is also cruelty involved in transporting animals within countries. There is also harm to animals done before they are slaughtered, as I found in an interview I conducted with an Australian slaughterhouse worker. The animals at this slaughterhouse suffered from overcrowding, being whipped and beaten - including with chains and crowbars. At this slaughterhouse, the animals had their throats slit while still fully conscious and kicking and twitching. As with the Indonesian slaughterhouses, the animals were terrified and let out haunting screams.

The whole debate over live export has generally assumed that we have "humane" slaughter in Australia and that slaughter can be "humane." On Tuesday the 31^st of May, comedian Dave Hughes challenged this idea on the current affairs show The 7pm Project. On this episode, which covered the live export issue, Hughes, who used to work in a slaughterhouse right here in Australia, was not shocked by the footage of cows being slaughtered in Indonesia. He explained his experiences of working in an Australian slaughterhouse and seeing the fear the animals had in their eyes, that they were merely electrocuted before they had their throats slit, and that it was ‘horrible.'

The live export campaign has generally called for chilled meat from animals killed in Australia being sent overseas as the "humane" alternative to live export. Chilled meat just replaces one form of cruelty (live export) with another (slaughter and suffering for animals here in Australia). I believe that veganism opposes all of the forms of cruelty involved in live export - transport, additional cruelty beyond the slaughter, and the slaughter itself. It is not just meat that leads to animal slaughter, but also other animal products such as dairy, eggs and leather.

Dairy products involve the slaughtering of animals, as the male calves have no use to this industry and are killed for veal soon after birth. The same thing happens in the egg industry, where the males are also unable to produce the product they are bred for, so are killed shortly after birth. The female animals in both of these industries are also killed in the same slaughterhouses as those raised for meat once they are no longer producing enough of the desired product. This is long before they would die if they were free from exploitation.

ARA went to one of the rallies opposing live export, not to promote chilled meat, but to promote veganism and oppose all animal slaughter. We handed out nearly 500 of flyers we created specifically on this issue. These flyers make the link between the cruelty experienced by the animals slaughtered in Indonesia and the cruelty behind all animal products.

8. What are your thoughts on animal testing for cosmetics?

Animal testing for cosmetics is totally unnecessary and I encourage people to choose cosmetics that are not tested on animals. There are already plenty of cosmetic products out there that are not tested on animals, which demonstrates how unnecessary this testing is. The more people choose these products, the more we move away from testing cosmetic products on animals, which is obviously a good thing for animals.

9.  As an animal rights advocate, how does it make you feel to know that people purposely harm animals?

People purposely harming animals is obviously a problem, but I don't think it is the biggest problem in countries like Australia. I think the biggest problem is people contributing to animals being harmed without even realising it. This is through the consumption of animal products that lead to animals being harmed and killed. Irish sociologist Roger Yates has labelled Western societies as ‘animal loving animal harmers' - we all claim to love animals and oppose harm to animals. This generally translates to opposing "direct" harm to animals such as kicking a dog or cat, while being indifferent to the harm caused to animals for products that nearly everyone consumes.

10.  What can the general public do to help fight against animal cruelty?

Live a cruelty-free, vegan lifestyle. Veganism doesn't mean just opposing animal cruelty for food, but for all uses of animals. It means opposing animal cruelty in all of the choices we make. So beyond consuming plant-based foods rather than animal-based foods like meat, dairy and eggs, a vegan lifestyle also means choosing clothes that do not involve animal cruelty (rather than clothes with animal products like leather), choosing cruelty-free cosmetics (rather than ones that are tested on animals or contain animal ingredients), going to entertainment that doesn't involve animal cruelty (rather than circuses or other forms of entertainment that use animals), and adopting companion animals instead of buying from a pet shop or breeder and therefore contributing to the pet overpopulation problem.

Veganism is the best way to put the idea of opposing animal cruelty into practice in our day-to-day lives. If someone is already vegan and wants to do more to oppose animal cruelty, encourage others to become vegan in a way that suits you. The more vegans, the less demand there is for products that involve animal cruelty, and therefore the fewer animals are harmed and killed for these products.

For more information on animal rights and veganism, visit www.ara.org.au and if you'd like any information on veganism in Perth, whether it is health advice, vegan-friendly restaurants and products in Perth, and much more, visit our new website www.veganperth.org.au