Sheep in trucks!

[boss-290]

I cannot believe some of the posts in this thread.

Disgraceful. :(

[Full Noise]

Originally Posted by boss-290

I cannot believe some of the posts in this thread.

Disgraceful. :(

Care to elaborate?

[xr8cobra]

lmfao thats all folks!!

[boss-290]

Your post for starters, Full Noise.

[Trevor 57]

Many years ago when Victoria allowed stock transport to go to 4.6 metres high all the drivers had to undergo a training course which included animal welfare, this was a big part of the course.

The driver may have been aware of the leg haging out, it would be very doubtful if he could here it above the noise of the cabin, engine, exhaust and other traffic noise, he would be also unlikely to see the blood, it isn't that easy to notice.

[Full Noise]

Originally Posted by boss-290

Your post for starters, Full Noise.

Well, you grow all of your vegies in your little patch, collect your drinking water from the local creek, wipe your backside with a gum leaf and keep smoking that stuff that you’re growing in your greenhouse.

Obviously not a meat eater?

[MITCHAY]

Originally Posted by Full Noise

Well, you grow all of your vegies in your little patch, collect your drinking water from the local creek, wipe your backside with a gum leaf and keep smoking that stuff that you’re growing in your greenhouse.

Obviously not a meat eater?

Even if they were meat eaters, you can bet your house that the majority of people would whinge if they had to pay a little extra dollars for their weekly shopping bills to cover the cost of so called more 'humane' animal transport. That's the sad fact :

[RG]

Originally Posted by MITCHAY

Even if they were meat eaters, you can bet your house that the majority of people would whinge if they had to pay a little extra dollars for their weekly shopping bills to cover the cost of so called more 'humane' animal transport. That's the sad fact :

Many people only think of their meat as neatly packaged on trays.

These are the same people that sook up when they see animals being slaughtered or transported. Ignorance is bliss you could say.

[WASP]

Just because we eat these animals, doesn't mean they shouldn’t be treated with a level of human decency and respect. If you do not give a damn about these animal’s in that regard then consider looking at it from a food perspective. It's a known fact that eating animals that have been poorly treated and are distressed can severally compromises the quality of their meat that we consume.

Of course the driver didn't mean for this to happen, no one suggested he did, however the code of practice indicates that he (the driver) is responsibility for loading density and care of the stock while they are in transit. The code of conduct states “any transport that is required (of live stock) must be carried out in a way that minimises stress, pain and suffering”. – Department of Primary Industries. There's more information here

Clearly in this case it has not happened and the driver is responsible for doing something about it, whether that seems reasonable to some of you or not. I must say that personally I would like to think that the driver wasn't aware and if he was, would act in the best interests of the animal.

[Rodp]

Originally Posted by CDAA

Clearly in this case it has not happened and the driver is responsible for doing something about it, whether that seems reasonable to some of you or not. I must say that personally I would like to think that the driver wasn't aware and if he was, would act in the best interests of the animal.

Fair enough, if you were the driver in the OP's situation and you were aware of the distressed animal, what would you have done?

[WASP]

Originally Posted by Rodp

Fair enough, if you were the driver in the OP's situation and you were aware of the distressed animal, what would you have done?

Based on DPI recommended procedures, a livestock driver is supposed to be trained for this situation. This includes arranging for, or to carry out the humane destruction of a seriously injured animal that's showing signs of distress during transit.

Not knowing exactly what these trained procedures are, I can only answer from a personal point of view. Assuming I was aware of the animals leg being injured I would have stopped the vehicle in the safest place possible and attempted to release the sheep’s leg from the railing. If I was very close my destination I would have taken the animal there so it could have been unloaded and humanely destroyed or treated if need be. If I was too far from anywhere I would have reported it to the transport company, sort advice and possibly destroyed it quickly myself if no better option was available.

All scenarios are easier said than done, but that's why the job requires proper training, support and protocol. I can imagine many drivers don’t get access to this which is very unfortunate. Leaving drivers to take these matters into their own hands is both unfair to the driver and to the stock that they are responsible for.

Regardless as mentioned before I have trouble imagining that the trained driver in the case was aware of the injured sheep. If he/she was and chose to do nothing about it I would be very surprised and disappointed to hear that.

[jaydee]

Well he can't shoot it so that leaves cutting it's throat or strangling it, very difficult any how you look at it.
Perhaps the RSPCA should be able to come out and give it the "Green Dream" and put it down, probably near on impossible.
Maybe a shopping bag over the head and suffocate it. What about a cyanide pill?
I'm not trying to be a smart A here, just thinking what are the options.
And how does the driver get to it? He'd have to crawl in or climb up the sides and reach in which is surely an occ health issue in itself.

[WASP]

Originally Posted by jaydee

I'm not trying to be a smart A here, just thinking what are the options.
And how does the driver get to it?

It is a difficult situation for sure and your suggestions serve as an excellent example of why the correct protocols must be trained and followed so the driver is competent in dealing with such an event. It's an unfair and potentially dangerous call to be left up to someone who hasn't been trained in what to do.

[Hillbilly F Truck]

Prevention rather than cure is the answer, as stated in my earlier post. But as one forum member has pointed out changes to design to carriers are being made.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Full Noise

This thread takes the cake. I don’t think that I’ve read so much crap (with the exception of Jadee’s post) since 12000 was online.

For starters, sheep crates are mostly four decks. They have to be packed in tightly (standing) so they don’t get injured or trampled by lying down. They also tend to move when they are frightened etc.

WTF do you people want the truck driver to do? Block Portrush road in peak hour and nearly get run over by some impatient motorist because a bloody calf decided to stick its leg out? Just because one sticks its leg out doesn’t mean that it’s the end of the world.

Everyone’s an expert.

Lamb or sheep. Calf is a cow. I feel sorry for the sheep that this thread is about, but I doubt the truck driver loaded the sheep like that, and I also doubt he'd (she'd) be able to do much about it, apart from hack the leg off????

[FPV8U]

When i was over in WA i know some of the drivers carried guns, im guessing this is the reason, although in the mentioned situation, i can't imagine to many people would be happy with the sheep/lamb getting shot roadside..

[fakegt]

Coming back from Summernats last year after 4 days of 100% meat based diet we almost had a sheep land on our windscreen as it jumped straight into the air on the top deck of a modern transporter, as the truck was doing 100ks it didn't land back in the truck but exploded on the road right next to us. It was a pretty sickening to witness. We called the driver on his mobile and he said it wasn't the first time. To hard to net the top deck?
It could of killed us!
When I arrived home my wonderfull vego wife had cooked me a roast! My dogs got the meat, as I couldn't face it.

[RG]

Originally Posted by FPV8U

When i was over in WA i know some of the drivers carried guns, im guessing this is the reason, although in the mentioned situation, i can't imagine to many people would be happy with the sheep/lamb getting shot roadside..

Discharging a firearm in a built-up area would be illegal in itself.

[boss-290]

Originally Posted by Full Noise

Well, you grow all of your vegies in your little patch, collect your drinking water from the local creek, wipe your backside with a gum leaf and keep smoking that stuff that you’re growing in your greenhouse.

Obviously not a meat eater?

I love my meat.

Doesn't mean you make the animals we eat suffer.

[FPV8U]

Originally Posted by Russell

Discharging a firearm in a built-up area would be illegal in itself.

So what option does the driver have here?

Stop? and do what?

[fmc351]

Id have treated the leg with a soothing cream like tsatsiki, and wrapped it in a bandage of pita.


Seriously, what could he do once on the road, in what appears to be heavy traffic, in a confined space, with hundreds of other sheep in there. If he just tried to shove the leg back through, what would that do if successful? Hide the fact theres a sheep in there that probably cant stand. Out of sight, out of mind.

Its horrible people had to see it, especially little kids, Id hate to try and explain it to mine. It seems to me, the only answer is in the nature of the trailer. Until then, its probably going to happen.

[flappist]

Originally Posted by Russell

Discharging a firearm in a built-up area would be illegal in itself.

No, discharging a firearm without just cause is illegal.
Otherwise there would be a lot of police, vets and to a (much) lesser extent security personnel in a lot of poo.

[RG]

Originally Posted by flappist

No, discharging a firearm without just cause is illegal.
Otherwise there would be a lot of police, vets and to a (much) lesser extent security personnel in a lot of poo.

Security are always in a lot of poo whenever they discharge a firearm, hence the reason I refuse to take a job that requires one. A truck driver would never be allowed to do so.

[StAndArdAU]

Serious Question:
why was this truck travelling along a road that has 'peak times'?? not knowing the area, is the abbotoir located in the city? i thought most were in country locations? i know that here in my small town, nothing with more than one trailer is allowed to travel through town. Hence why our LIA is located 3-5 kays outside of town.

i bet if it was a truck full of puppy dogs some of the attitudes of contributers to this thread would be different. and dont say "oh but dogs are different" they're still animals with little to know intelligence. if you dont want to hear people 'whinging' about animal cruelty etc, then tune out and dont read the thread.

[StAndArdAU]

/deleted

[StAndArdAU]

/deleted

[Full Noise]

Originally Posted by boss-290

I love my meat.

Doesn't mean you make the animals we eat suffer.

Where did I say anything about making animals suffer?

One of the jobs I do, usually every second night is pull reefer containers out of a sheep processing plant. You’re in the eastern suburbs, so see if you can guess which one. After the stock crates have unloaded and the sheep are in the holding pens, the night drover turns off the lights. I go to a great deal of trouble not to make excess noise as I don’t see the need to frighten stock that will be in a boning room by the end of the day.

One of the things you may not see as an apprentice motor mechanic is the level of care that these animals are treated with. As GasOlane pointed out, there are none that can be written off. Stock crates are designed to minimise bruising and injury as animal welfare is a number one priority for people in the business. If you damage the freight, you won’t have a job. It’s as simple as that.

Originally Posted by JC

Lamb or sheep.

Thanks JC. I did realise that I’d made that little typo but by the time I’d re-read it, the edit time on the post had expired. I was hoping that no one would pick it, oh well. :O

Originally Posted by StAndArdAU

Serious Question:
why was this truck travelling along a road that has 'peak times'?? not knowing the area, is the abbotoir located in the city? i thought most were in country locations? i know that here in my small town, nothing with more than one trailer is allowed to travel through town. Hence why our LIA is located 3-5 kays outside of town.

Probably because:

A. The vehicle was most likely registered and that allows him to travel on any road he chooses providing he doesn’t exceed the load limit of the road.

B. Portrush Road is one of the main roads out of Adelaide and is the most direct route from the Northern side of the city, regardless of whether it’s peak hour or not.

C. Just to annoy the snobs who live there and had the noise cameras installed so the big bad truck drivers don’t keep them awake just because they decided to buy a house on a main road.

[StAndArdAU]

thanks for enlightening me... what's a noise camera?

[Full Noise]

Similar set up to a speed camera, however, it’s activated by decibels. If you’re too loud, you get snapped.

[StAndArdAU]

so its a camera with a microphone attached...?

wouldnt want it to be a windy day... that would make for a lot of photos.