Animal Welfare !

Most Australians would have been repulsed by television news footage of dead and dieing sheep    rammed together in sweltering conditions on ships taking them to the Middle East.  It is reported that two thousand four hundred bodies were progressively dropped overboard for the sharks on a recent voyage.

There are calls for live export of sheep and cattle from Australia to be banned.  Much of the meat we export is destined for the supermarket trade in Europe and the United States and that is a very different proposition.  The animals are slaughtered in an Australian abattoir and the meat processed in air conditioned packing houses before being shipped overseas in refrigerated containers.

The needs of the third world are very different.  Even when homes have refrigerators the power supply is sporadic and so local custom decrees that meat is slaughtered, cooked and eaten within twenty-four hours.  It is customary for families to buy a live sheep at the market, transport it home in the boot of their car and slaughter it in the backyard.   This looks horrific to Australian viewers, but it is common practice in much of the world.

Those scenes on television were probably a worst case scenario.  The shipment in question probably arrived in the Middle East in July or August, the hottest part of the northern hemispheres summer and if the ship encountered rough seas the distress would have been enhanced.   Live export ships are specially constructed vessels designed for profit rather than comfort.  The animals are supposed to be able to access food and water, but the crowding makes this impossible for many.  A ratio of transport deaths is considered part of the economic rationale.

We could enact transport laws to ease the crowding, but that may increase the problem.  Grazing animals are accustomed to a firm surface underfoot.  That is not possible on a ship at sea and closer proximity to others prevents them falling - and being trampled.  Being penned in smaller numbers and with better access to food and water would certainly improve the survival rate.

We could impose loading laws that apply to ships carrying sheep and cattle from Australian ports but the likely outcome would be the trade diverted to the many other countries supplying overseas markets.   Probably the only practical change we can reasonably ensure is improved conditions applying to food and water and restrictions on travel schedules to avoid arrivals in the hottest months.

It would be unreasonable to ban all forms of live export.  This is a legitimate form of Australian trade and with care animals can travel by ship in relative safety.  The exporters have a valid reason for improving the conditions that apply because the more animals that arrive at their destination in good health the better their profit margin.

The answer to this problem is to have sensible laws in place, and for the news media to be watchful in bringing this trade to public attention.