Both Mr. Joseph and Mrs. Magarite Higham, the dog hoarding couple who were convicted of 11 counts of cruelty in SA, and 123 counts in NSW, are now in custody following a nation wide manhunt.
The couple did not appear in court to hear they had been found guilty on all 11 counts in early May, and police and RSPCA had been searching for them since. RSPCA inspectors were extremely keen to track the couple down, so a public media appeal was put out. The response from the public was phenonemenal. The Society received hundreds of calls from throughout the country.
Late last week Mrs.Higham was found on a remote property near Casterton. Police arrested her, and she is now awaiting sentencing in Mount Gambier. She had around 100 dogs in her possession, a clear violation of both Adelaide, and Tamworth court orders. Magistrate Cathy Deland restricted the couple to possessing two dogs, as a part of a bail condition, in Dec 2007. In August 2005, in Tamworth court, the couple were handed down a suspended sentence pending a period of 5 years good behaviour. Bond conditions included the Highams (known as the Halls and Economos’ in NSW) only possessing five microchipped and desexed dogs.
Mr Higham was found at an Adelaide Backpackers on the weekend. A bedside hearing was held yesterday, however he is also yet to be sentenced.
The fate of the dogs at the Casterton site is yet to be determined, however it seems many of them have mistreated, and some will almost definitely have to be put down. Further charges, for the mistreatment of these dogs are yet to be laid.
RSPCA Australia has joined a global coalition of animal welfare organisations to demand an end to the long distance transport of animals for slaughter. In Australia, the Coalition, Handle With Care, will focus mainly on ending the live export of sheep to the Middle East.
The Handle with Care campaign is a world-first alliance to send a clear message to industry and government that this inhumane and unnecessary trade will no longer be tolerated.
The RSPCA has long argued that the export of live sheep, goats and cattle for slaughter is inhumane. Animals exported from Australia face a journey of up to 5 days from the farm-gate to their overseas destination. On the way they endure extreme stress, heat exhaustion and sweltering temperatures. Many also suffer from disease and, every year, tens of thousands die along the way.
Those that do survive are slaughtered in the most horrific, barbaric way.
Quite frankly, proponents of the industry have had long enough to address these serious issues and now it’s time for action.
That’s why the RSPCA has joined forces with organisations including The World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA), Compassion in World Farming and Animals Australia in an unprecedented alliance to bring international attention to the trade.
Yesterday a global report called Beyond Cruelty, Beyond Reason, Long Distance Transport and Welfare of Farm Animals was released. It identifies Australia as a world ‘leader’ in the cruel live export of animals for slaughter. This is certainly no badge of honour. In fact, (not surprisingly) the findings in this report paint a very different picture to the one fashioned by the live export industry and the Rudd Government.
As one of the world’s largest exporters in live animals for slaughter, the global spotlight is now on Australia to bring this cruel and unnecessary trade to an end.
Despite industry protestations, the trade is unnecessary. Australia already successfully exports chilled and frozen meat all over the world and has Halal-certified export abattoirs supplying Halal meat to the Middle East. This highlights there is a viable, functioning alternative. Growth in this trade has tremendous opportunity.
There is no need to export live animals for slaughter – as the report states it is beyond cruelty and beyond reason. The Handle with Care coalition has launched a call for action and is asking all Australians to register their opposition to live exports by visiting:
The South Australian branch of the RSPCA is extremely happy to hear that the barbaric sport of duck shooting has been banned for this season. While the government says the cancellation is due to the drought and low duck numbers, the RSPCA believes duck shooting should be banned because of the severe injuries it inflicts on ducks.
Statistics show that one in four ducks fly away injured after being shot, leaving them to die a terrible, slow death hours, sometimes days later.
Aimee McKay, spokesperson:
‘The fact that one in four are injured and not instantly killed, from an animal welfare standpoint, is completely unacceptable. From beak injuries, where ducks then die of starvation days later, to wing injuries where they’re unable to fly away from predator to the bird simply bleeding to death, they all lead to a horrible death for the bird.’
The RSPCA of South Australia acknowledges that while the temporary ban is a positive step, a total ban needs to be brought in. In the ACT, it has never been legal, it was banned in Western Australia in 1990, in NSW in ’95, and Queensland went on to ban it last year.
‘South Australia is really lagging behind when it comes to duck shooting. The sheer cruelty of the so called ‘sport’ alone should see it banned, but we also have the added strain on duck numbers due to drought. It really makes no sense for this inhumane practice to still be legal.’
If you would like to make a difference, write to Gail Gago, Minister for Environment.
Simply click on the words below and you will be directed to MInister Gago’s website with details on how to contact her.
We have launched a ‘Christmas for the Critters’ appeal due to the extra financial pressures on us over the holiday season.
We have placed ‘Money Trees’ at the following locations:
RSPCA Shelter 25 Meyer Road, Lonsdale.
RSPCA S.A. Headquarters, 172 Morphett St, City (western side of City)
Five AA Radio Station, Level 4, 75 Hindmarsh Square, City (eastern side of City)
Lots of people want to help the RSPCA, and there are lots of different ways you can. Some buy pets from us and give an abused and/or homeless animal a second chance.Others volunteer, helping us to do everything from setting up marquees at the MIllion Paws Walk to walking our dogs.
We understand that not everyone can have a pet, we also understand full time workers, disabled people etc. cannot volunteer. Donating to the MONEY TREES is SOMETHING EVERYONE CANDO! Any donation, large or small, will be welcome on our trees which are currently looking pretty bare! In fact we haven’t got one donation pinned on at our City shelter! DO YOU WORK, LIVE OR DRIVE THROUGH THE CITY? ARE YOU DOING YOUR XMAS SHOPPNG IN THE CITY? Take a five minute detour and go via our Headquarters, or FiveAA.
All you have to do is take an envelope off the tree, and chose the the animal you like. You then write your name and a Christmas message and pin it back onto the tree, for everyone to see!
If you’re in the country, or cannot make into one of our three locations you can go to the FiveAA website, and click on -‘What’s New’ and donate with your credit card. Alternatively CALL our donation hotline on: 1800 652 866.
A big, big thank you to all the bikers who took part in our Cruise for Critters at the weekend. It was an absolutely beautiful day, as the bikers left from the bottom of the South Eastern Freeway to wind their way through the picturesque 90km track throughout the Adelaide Hills.
The riders ended up at Coromandel Valley where they enjoyed a yummy BBQ and a refreshing drink!
A huge thank you to all volunteers, workers and, of course, bikers, who helped and supported the RSPCA on the day. It was a successful fundraiser and an enjoyable event.
The RSPCA has quite a few full lottery books left and would really appreciate some help in selling these before the 2nd December. If you are able to help, please contact the Fundraising Department on 8212 6871. Thanks!
Letters to the Editor SUNDAY MAIL 31 Waymouth Street ADELAIDE SA 5000
Dear Sir
W Parsons (”Sunday Mail” 12/08/2007) thinks that a drop in legacies to the RSPCA over the past year is due to the exposes of alleged animal cruelty by the animal rights organisations Animal Liberation, Animals Australia and No Rodeo. (Ms Parsons chose not to identify her role with those organisations). While her allegations are unsupported, the RSPCA is obliged to (and does) act lawfully in terms of its role in enforcement of animal welfare laws. The publicity stunts used by some members of the animal rights movement -including acts of vandalism, trespass, theft and even sabotage - make great television, but do little to convince Governments to change laws to more effectively protect animals. This is the message that the RSPCA makes to the Government, the community and animal industries constantly, and with proven results. The new Animal Welfare Act now before Parliament, was a direct initiative of the RSPCA.
The RSPCA has once again condemned the Australian Government’s continuing support of the live export trade, following last week’s signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to continue the export of live animals to Qatar.
Australia will continue sending sheep, cattle, buffalo and goats to Qatar following the signing of an MOU in which Qatar undertakes to offload animals into a quarantine facility if there should be a suspected problem (e.g., an outbreak of disease).
RSPCA Australia Chief Executive Officer Heather Neil said that like those before it, this agreement would not protect the welfare of Australian animals that are subjected to the live export trade.
“We all witnessed the absolutely horrific treatment of Australian sheep that arrived on the very first shipment after the Australia Government signed an MOU with the Egyptian Government late last year,” said Ms Neil.
“In reality, these MOUs are a band-aid solution aimed at justifying continuation of this inherently cruel trade,” she said.
Ms Neil also said the MOU was an attempt to offer a false sense of reassurance to an Australian community that is increasingly concerned about the treatment of animals in the live export industry.
“The Australian Government and live export industry claim to care about animal welfare, but in ratifying this MOU with Qatar they have yet again condemned thousands of Australian animals to a long cruel journey followed by inhumane handling and slaughter,” she said.
“The MOU only governs procedures until the animals are offloaded, and it is an indisputable fact that Australian authorities have no control over the treatment of livestock once they arrive at their destination,
“Furthermore, the signing of this MOU shows Government and industry are still struggling to deal with the inherent risks that lead to the infamous Cormo Express disaster more than four years ago,’ said Ms Neil.
The RSPCA opposes live exports because the trade is inherently cruel, resulting in the death and suffering of too many animals each year from exhaustion, hunger, thirst, heat and stress. Furthermore, the Australian Government has no control over how animals are treated in the country of destination.
The RSPCA’s position remains that the live export trade is unnecessary because all major export markets for live animals already accept chilled and frozen meat from Australia that has been humanely slaughtered according to religious requirements. The Australian Government and livestock industries need to expand facilities in Australia and increase the marketing of meat into Qatar rather than continuing live exports.
Due to factors beyond our control gremlins snuck into the RSPCA’s blog a few nights ago and stole all of the comments, leaving nothing behind but gremlin dust.
We are sorry, but at least your comments from now on will show up. We have posted a fearsome guard dog at the entrance to the blog so that the gremlins won’t steal anything else…
