Australian animal welfare organization Stop Live Exports reports that the livestock carrier Maysora was loaded with 42,000 sheep, some with open wounds, on December 27.
The sheep were loaded in Fremantle and destined for Jordan.
The organization also reports that electric prods and sticks were used to force the animals onto the ship, in violation of the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock (ASEL 3.3).
ASEL states that livestock must be handled by competent stock handlers to prevent injury and minimize stress.
Separately, Stop Live Exports reports that on December 23 cattle were loaded on the Gudali Express in 42-degree Celsius heat.
This is not illegal.
Former live export veterinarian Dr Lynn Simpson commented: “The unnecessary pain and suffering that Australian animals are exposed to is not isolated to live export voyages alone. Nor does suffering only start once they are loaded onto a ship. Australia lets down animals simply by our land transport standards that do not protect animals from suffering during transport in trucks in all weather types including extreme heat, extreme cold, strong sun exposure and wet weather including a wind chill factor when the vehicle is moving.”
Simpson says poor Live export and Land transport standards and their lax enforcement are part of the compounding and accumulative stresses that Australian animals face during their lives.
“Tax payer money is spent to help regulate the live export trade. If these transport and 'fit to load' breaches and concerns are visible from passing vehicles, at traffic lights, in the heart of city's like Fremantle, anywhere livestock trucks can go, then surely, they are noticed and actionable by the very people employed to police and prevent them.”
