Posted: June 2nd, 2011 - 6:39pm
Source: Sydney Morning Herald

The operator of one of the Indonesian slaughterhouses where Australian cattle have been mistreated is quick to apologise and willing to admit what happened is ''cruel''.
Asked to spell out why the brutality occurred at the Gondrong abattoir outside Jakarta, Muhammad Nur Hendri struggles. ''It's about culture but I don't know how to explain,'' he says.
Pressed further, Mr Muhammad is unwilling to elucidate, although Johny Liano, the head of Indonesia's meat industry association, gets to the nub of the issue.
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He says that Indonesian abattoir workers often focus on the Islamic halal regulation that an animal must be killed with a slit to the throat that lets the blood run out. ''They forget that halal includes not making the animal stressful,'' he says.
The Gondrong abattoir is where cattle were filmed writhing and slapping their heads hard on the concrete floor as workers struggle to control them, not least because they were spraying them with water, which made the beasts more agitated.
The cows bellowed as they were manhandled, clearly highly distressed as workers hacked them inexpertly with knives.