From the office of Roland Rocchiccioli

***ROLAND ROCCHICCIOLI banner, please***

A Nation can be rated by the way it treats its animals and its elderly. Australia fails miserably on too many occasions. Along with Russia, Turkey, and Romania, we are rated on the international animal welfare scale of A to G, an embarrassing “D”.

Concerns surrounding the continued use of battery cages, live exports, and painful farming practices without anaesthetic, have garnered negative international attention.

Australia faces significant, on-going domestic animal cruelty issues.

Annually, the RSPCA processes between 55-60,000 reports of animal mistreatment — the most common charges being a failure to provide adequate food, water, or veterinary care.

It is difficult to comprehend the depth of the offending in the surfeit of media reportage and court coverage. It makes for gloomy reading.

Animals — particularly mammals — are sentient beings. Regrettably, unlike New Zealand’s Animal Welfare Act 1999, there is no national Australian law pertaining to animal welfare defining basic principles and protections for animals. Animal sentience is not explicitly recognised in Australian law at Commonwealth, state, or territory level.

Animals experience a range of basic emotions analogous to humans — fear, joy, anger, sadness — consider an elephant standing guard over a dead calf — disgust, and even surprise.

Research shows they feel, in varying degrees, love, empathy, jealousy, and distress — dogs suffer separation anxiety and howl when they fear ownership abandonment.

Australia has limited national animal protection laws. Domestic animals are seen as a disposable commodity. Owners have been known to drop-off pets at animal shelters on their drive to the airport. Animals are deserted when owners move house.

Moggy, having been dumped, moved-in. Microchipped, the owners were located, easily. It was catergoric: “No, we don’t want her no more!” How many times in the summer do you have to tell people not to leave their children and animals locked in cars?

Our paucity of regard is troubling. Bullfighting is barbarous. Any sentient being watching the brutal slaughter of another sentient — in the erroneous name of sport — could not fail to be sickened by the spectacle.

Bulls have limited vision and are colourblind to red. They react to the movement of the cape — waving gratuitously for the crowd’s entertainment.

The dog meat trade is repulsive. Annually, across Asia, approximately 30-million dogs are killed for human consumption.

There is a PhD in the relationship between homo sapiens and canines. They are remarkable. They alter the vibration of the house; love you unconditionally — how many partners jump for joy on sighting their mate? Dogs are excited after you have been to the letter box! They are life-time companion pets. They think visiting the lavatory is a joint effort!

Their three children notwithstanding, some believe Liudmila and Kon Petropoulos’ blatant, recidivistic contravening deserved a jail sentence.

Their litany of animal cruelty is disquieting. The severity of the offending unfathomable. The felons intentionally flouted the law and repeatedly operated in direct contravention of court orders. Were they truly deserving of the court’s compassion?

My late mother, Beria, was a regular St. Francis. Billy the goat and Mary the lamb followed her across the flat to the post-office; they liked grazing near the railway line but only if she stayed with them.

When Beria sat down under the passionfruit vines the chooks jumped onto her lap! Wongi the galah bit everyone — except her!

People who don’t like animals are odd!

Roland talks with Brett Macdonald radio 3BA Monday 10.40am.