A video from a farm in Tasmania which shows a sheep being shorn with a chainsaw has led to uproar after going viral.

An appalling 10 second clip posted to a Midlands Facebook page on Tuesday has sparked outrage amongst animal welfare advocates and members of the public after it went viral on social media.

It shows a sheep shearer holding down the animal on a farm in Tasmania, while another shearer cuts at its wool with a small blue chainsaw.

The person recording the video can be heard laughing off-camera.

Outrage

The footage has been shared across platforms. A sanctuary owner who shared the video criticised animal protection laws in Australia adding that livestock does not receive adequate protection in the country.

“In my lifetime I have seen so much neglect and cruelty,” he said.

“Shame on these brainless humans.”

Other comments attached to the video have been calling for the men to be charged.

“Absolutely barbaric, please name and shame and bring to justice and ban from keeping any animal,” wrote one Facebook user.

“Sometimes you wonder about mankind. WTF is wrong with people?” another said.

“This is disgusting,” a third added.

Emma Haswell from Brightside Farm Sanctuary in Cygnet, described the act as “full of danger, and just cruel and ignorant and idiotic.”

RSPCA Investigation

The video has also been reported to the RSPCA and investigations are underway.

“This is a really important message – anybody who sees animal cruelty, whether it’s in real life, or whether it’s on a social media platform must take the responsibility of reporting it,” RSPCA Tasmania CEO Jen Davis told Yahoo News Australia, urging people to report such instances at the earliest to avoid giving the culprits a chance to tamper evidence.

“If people don’t formally report it we’re not going to know, and the longer that gap is, the more chance you’ve got of evidence being destroyed or going missing. And the longer someone’s getting away with something,” she said.

“Being outraged is fantastic, and we’re all outraged by that sort of behaviour, but everybody has to own the responsibility of reporting it.”

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