The following was adapted from a post on PETA Asia's Hot and Sour Scoop blog:

After Egyptian media reported that a scientific committee was recommending that all Australian cattle have their ears cut off prior to slaughter, PETA Australia encouraged its supporters to speak up. As a result, the Australian government has assured PETA Australia that it has discussed this issue with Egyptian officials and that the ears of animals will not be cut off prior to slaughter.

The recommendation to cut off the ears of cattle came after Australian cattle in Egypt were held for several weeks following the discovery of hormone growth promotants (HGPs) in some animals' ears. Egyptian authorities have demonstrated their mistrust of HGPs, and PETA Australia feared that they were likely to accept the findings of the committee, leaving Australian cattle open to this extreme mutilation—most likely with no pain relief—prior to their inhumane slaughter.

However, it's still unclear if Australian animals in Egypt will have the implants removed from their ears prior to slaughter as has occurred previously, according to Australia's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. PETA Australia investigators have seen firsthand how cattle are treated in Egypt, so this procedure likely would not be performed humanely, either. PETA Australia is waiting for a response from the Australian minister of agriculture.

It's very clear under Islamic law that for meat to be halal ("permissible"), animals must not experience any discomfort prior to being slaughtered. Cattle can't be mutilated before being killed—otherwise, the meat becomes haraam ("sinful").

As an Australian program, Four Corners, revealed, animals exported alive from Australia are not protected from abuse and mistreatment once they have left that country. As in the case of the barbaric killing of 20,000 sheep in Pakistan, the Australian government would have been powerless to stop cattle from having their ears cut off if Egyptian authorities had mandated this mutilation.

Investigations conducted by PETA affiliates have exposed the abuse and mistreatment of animals used for live export on numerous occasions. It's time for Australian officials to end live export. Please e-mail Joe Ludwig, the minister of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, at joe.ludwig@maff.gov.au and politely ask him to ban these ships of death.

PETA has asked the Washington State Patrol (WSP) to open a criminal investigation after as many as 70 animals endured prolonged agony and died in the October 6 crash of a cattle transport truck container in Seattle. The request also urges WSP to bring cruelty-to-animals and unsafe-animal-transport charges against the person or people responsible if criminal actions are discovered.

Negligence Can Be Deadly

In a jarring reminder that the trucks used to transport farmed animals are no less cruel and treacherous than the factory farms and slaughterhouses that they travel between, the cattle container came unhinged on Interstate 90 and slid 200 yards along the road when the driver, hauling for J & H Express, Inc., rounded a curve. Video of the gruesome scene shows struggling survivors kicking their limbs and hooves, which were stuck in the container's grated sides. Photos by WSP responders reveal cattle piled on top of one another and covered with feces.

The animals were apparently denied emergency veterinary care. About three hours passed before the cattle—who had already endured many hours of transport from Hawaii—were driven three additional hours to Sunnyside, Washington, where at least 20 of the injured were reportedly discovered to have died. The driver was cited for traveling too fast and failing to secure his load. WSP personnel found that he had "failed to lock down all four corners" of the container given that two of its locking pins "had no damage or marking on them."

Taking Cruelty on the Road

According to Washington law, inflicting needless suffering on an animal through recklessness or criminal negligence or failing to provide one's animals with necessary medical attention constitutes second-degree cruelty to animals if the animal suffers unnecessary or unjustifiable physical pain. State law also makes it clear that causing animals to be transported in a way that jeopardizes their safety or that of the public is a misdemeanor.

Even without the flagrant and possibly illegal actions that lead to truck accidents (which happen frequently) and the misery that they cause, transport is hell on animals, who are often beaten or shocked to get them to cram into the trailer of the 18-wheeler. During the trip, they are often deprived of food and water for the entire journey, which may take days. They suffer from heat exhaustion in the summer and freeze to the sides of the truck in winter, and they're forced to inhale diesel exhaust and ammonia fumes from their own waste—if they can breathe at all. After the trauma of the farm and the truck, many animals are so ill or injured that they're unable to stand and walk on their own, so they're kicked or dragged off the trucks to their deaths.

What You Can Do

From birth to slaughter, the life of every animal used for food is a long procession of indignities and injuries, which are funded with each dollar spent on meat, eggs, or dairy products. Don't buy into animals' misery—go vegan today!

marlerblog / CC

In a chilling reminder to all meat-eaters, Saturday's New York Times recounted the tragic story of Stephanie Smith, whose meatborne illness almost killed her and left her paralyzed.

Two years ago, Smith was a dance instructor who ate a hamburger contaminated by E. coli bacteria, which happens when feces from cattle comes into contact with their flesh during the slaughter process—something that's hard to avoid when the animals are forced to lie in their own urine and feces in barren feedlots and when they are hacked apart in filthy slaughterhouses.

Stephanie experienced stomach cramping that turned into bloody diarrhea. Then her kidneys shut down. Seizures, which knocked her unconscious, were so frequent that doctors had to force her into a coma. Nine weeks later, she woke up. The virus had ravaged Stephanie's nervous system to the point that she can no longer walk, and doctors believe she will be bound to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

The name "E. coli" comes from "colon," where E. coli is found. In other words, anything that comes into contact with feces can be contaminated. While raw vegetables can be cross-contaminated with meat or with waste runoff from factory farms, ground beef is the most common source of E. coli poisoning.

Ground beef is usually a mixture of the flesh of many cattle from several slaughterhouses. Stephanie Smith's deadly burger contained "trimmings" from one slaughterhouse in Nebraska that kills 2,600 cattle each day. Other bits of the burger came from a slaughterhouse in Texas that kills discarded dairy cows and old bulls.

According to the Times, there isn't any federal law requiring meat-grinding companies to test for E. coli. Many slaughterhouses put the fear of losing money in recalls before public safety and will only sell to grinders who agree not to do testing.

The company that made Stephanie Smith's burger continues to sell its cheap bits and pieces of dead cattle to supermarkets, fast-food restaurants, and the school lunch program, so if a dose of E. coli doesn't sound appealing, go vegan.

Written by Heather Drennan