As cruel as indigenous hunting practices may be, non-indigenous farming practices are equally inhumane. Non-indigenous Australians rarely engage in hunting for subsistence purposes, yet their purchases of most animal products support the methods used in industrial farming.
Last year, a video showing an indigenous Australian policeman
stoning a wombat to death was uploaded to social media. Senior
Community Constable Waylon Johncock is filmed chasing a wombat,
throwing stones at him or her, and laughing. The dissemination of
the video, together with public outrage, led to promises from the
police to investigate Johncock’s conduct; the Wombat Awareness
Organisation also initiated a petition seeking justice for the
wombat. The police investigations resulted in no action, as Johncock
is an Aboriginal person and therefore entitled to engage in
indigenous hunting practices.
Indigenous Australians may legally undertake traditional hunting
practices in Australia. Sections 223(1) and (2) of the Native Title
Act of 1993 (Cth) recognise traditional indigenous hunting rights,
while Section 211 exempts native title holders from prohibitions on
hunting and fishing activities contained in other laws. Further, in
Yanner v. Eaton (1999), the High Court of Australia confirmed that
traditional hunting and fishing activities are included within the
native title rights protected by the Native Title Act of 1993 (Cth).
A number of Australian states and territories also protect
indigenous hunting rights via legislation. For example, in South
Australia, under the National Parks and Wildlife Act of 1972 (SA),
Aboriginal people are exempt from holding hunting permits to hunt
animals that are later used as food—for the hunters or the hunters’
dependents—or for cultural purposes.
Indigenous hunting is commonly practiced in Australia. Indigenous
hunters often target crocodiles, dugongs, turtles, mutton-birds,
emus, fish, goannas and opossums. The number of animals killed in
Australia as a result of indigenous hunting practices is difficult
to ascertain. Researchers estimate that some 1,600 dugongs, 20,000
turtles and 200,000 mutton-birds are killed each year by traditional
hunting methods.
Australian law protects the exercise of indigenous hunting rights,
yet many indigenous hunting methods appear to fall short of modern
animal welfare standards. The practice of stoning wombats, as
described above, is one such method. Although Johncock has been
subject to widespread criticism, the practice is defended by some
indigenous representatives, who claim that traditional hunting
methods form part of their culture. Other questionable hunting
methods include placing turtles on their backs so that they cannot
escape, then butchering them alive. Aboriginal people often hunt
dugongs by chasing them in boats, harpooning them, allowing them to
drag the boats until exhausted, and then holding their heads under
the water until they drown. Traditional hunters also commonly tether
dugong calves in order to attract and kill mature dugongs.
For these reasons, indigenous hunting has received much public
criticism in Australia. In 2017, a photo of a pile of decapitated
goannas was posted on social media, which led to accusations of
cruelty and condemnation. In 2016, allegations of indigenous
peoples’ cruelty to dugongs and turtles led to proposals for
increased federal regulation of indigenous hunting practices.
Earlier, in 2012, Australia’s ABC Television aired footage of
indigenous hunters butchering sea turtles and dugongs alive.
Queensland in 2012 changed its laws to remove an exemption for
indigenous hunting from animal welfare legislation.
As cruel as indigenous hunting practices may be, non-indigenous
farming practices are equally inhumane. Non-indigenous Australians
rarely engage in hunting for subsistence purposes, yet their
purchases of most animal products support the methods used in
industrial farming. Many industrial farming practices are clearly
cruel, and for that reason, the treatment of farmed animals is
commonly excluded from animal welfare legislation. (Lawmakers prize
the economic health of the animal agriculture industry over the
actual health of its unwilling participants.) Cows are often branded
using a hot iron that is pressed into contact with the cows’ skin.
Lambs may be subject to tail docking, castration, and mulesing. Pigs
may be confined in sow stalls that are so small as to prevent the
sows from turning around for most of their adult lives. These common
industrial farming practices are at least as cruel as traditional
hunting methods, and also within the bounds of the law.
Humans need to rethink the ways in which we use animals for food.
The methods of hunting and raising animals for food described herein
may make us feel uncomfortable, as such methods clearly cause
significant pain and suffering for animals. Scientific research
conclusively demonstrates that humans do not require animals and
animal products to be healthy; feeding the world entirely with plant
protein is also much more efficient. Science also indicates that
animals, at least all vertebrate animals, are sentient. We as
ethical beings need to cease hunting and raising animals for food
using antiquated and inhumane methods.