It seems like no animal is safe from the cruelty of man. Wild or tame, if humans can find a use for them, their days are numbered. Elephants, rhinos, dogs and sharks all have become targets of our cruelty over the centuries.
Now, we can add donkeys to the list. A booming demand for donkey skins and meat in China has some animal rights worried that the animals are being treated with extreme cruelty and skinned alive overseas before finally meeting their end.
The news is especially concerning to Australian animal rights organizations who are trying to stop the Northern Territory from participating in this deadly donkey trade. Currently officials are considering "the development of a profitable donkey industry" since the region has a large population of feral donkeys.
One option would be to allow vendors to ship live donkeys overseas to countries with very little animal protections and where they would surely die a horrible death before being stripped of their skin and meat.
No country that respects the rights of animals should participate in this disgusting enterprise, doing so would legitimize it and make its citizens complicit in terrible acts of cruelty.
Let's tell Australian agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce and PM Malcolm Turnbull to do the right thing and ban the live export of donkeys for overseas meat markets. Sign the petition and make a difference.
