Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Probe Into ‘Sadistic’ Abuse at Israel Slaughterhouse

Australian officials are investigating whether cattle shown being abused at Israel’s largest slaughterhouse are from Australia.

The Australian Department of Agriculture told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Tuesday the livestock at the abattoir near Beit Shean could be from Australia.

“It’s a reasonable expectation,” Australian Department of Agriculture deputy secretary Phillip Glide said “We’re conducting an investigation and we’re doing that in conjunction with the Israeli authorities who are conducting their own investigations.”

Israeli media reported that a criminal investigation has been launched into undercover video of the animals.

The video footage was captured by undercover Israeli journalist Ronen Bar, who claimed most of the cattle were from Australia.

It shows workers using a stun gun on the animals’ genitals and anus.

The owners of the Adom Adom facility told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the abuse of the animals was “rude, sadistic behavior.”

Protesters in Tel Aviv called on Australia to halt cattle export to Israel. Australia requires the observance of animal welfare standards at the slaughterhouses to which it allows exports. Some 50,000 cattle from Australia have been exported to Israel in 2012.

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.