Chrissie Hynde Asks PM Turnbull for Live-Export Plebiscite

As The Pretenders’ lead singer Chrissie Hynde wraps up her tour of Australia, the music legend and animal activist fired off a letter to Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s prime minister and minister for agriculture, urging him to instigate a plebiscite on the issue of live-animal exports.

Since Australia is just days away from learning the result of the country’s same-sex marriage plebiscite, Hynde – who was the “best man” at PETA US Vice President Dan Mathews’ gay wedding and has campaigned for many years for human and animal rights – writes that both marriage discrimination and live export should have been stopped a long time ago.

Every year, Australia exports millions of live animals to countries in the Middle East and Asia, a gruelling trip that may take weeks in the searing heat.

Hynde has campaigned for many years in Australia and the Middle East to end Australia’s controversial live-export trade, in which sheep and cattle endure days or even weeks crammed onto filthy ships, travelling through all weather extremes, to arrive at slaughter destinations with few or no laws to prevent their suffering. Many die on the journey from starvation, injury or disease. For many of those who make it to their destination,  their throats are slit with a dull blade in filthy markets while they are still conscious.

Not only is this industry extremely cruel, it’s also disliked by the majority of Australians, with one poll finding 86 per cent of people would be more likely to vote for a political candidate who promised to phase it out.

Read Chrissie Hynde’s letter, and then take action to help end live exports: