Thursday, January 16, 2014

Australian Sheep Deaths at Sea

Heat waves don’t only affect people. Heat stress is a known risk for sheep being transported from an Australian winter into a Middle Eastern summer. Livestock Shipping Services (LSS) has admitted that heat stress was the cause of the deaths of 4000 sheep on an LSS voyage from Australia to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in August last year. The region was experiencing 50 degree days at the time.

This kind of recklessness is simply not good enough.  The number of sheep deaths on this voyage is comparable to the 5000 deaths which occurred on board the Cormo Express 10 years ago. LSS is the same exporter which is already under investigation for animal cruelty in Jordan and Gaza.

Heat stress is a terrible way to die. Animals suffer convulsions and severe distress. If the heat stress was sufficient to kill 4000 sheep it will also have caused pain and suffering for the other animals.

The claim that stopping live export will damage Australian meat producers is not correct. 2013 broke records for exports of sheep meat and boxed beef. When we stopped sending Bahrain live sheep they replaced this with Australian sheep meat. Saudi Arabia has moved from taking live animals to Australian meat.
 
If Australia’s claims to be concerned about animal welfare are to mean something, there have to be consequences for this debacle. LSS should have their export licence taken off them indefinitely.

18 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing this article Kelvin. All live food export needs to be banned now. And thank you for the information about the countries replacing live food export with Australian meats, this is powerful information that needs to break into the main stream media so people understand banning LFE will not destroy the industry.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is not only the ship transport but also the truck transport of these animals which is unacceptable. Today I drove past a triple-tiered truck where the sheep's bodies were on top of each other, faces pressed to the edges, panting for air and then to see a leg trapped and hanging outside of the truck unable to be freed - all in 44 degree heat. This whole darn business is riddled with cruelty. Thank you Kelvin for your consistent and persistent voice on this issue. Leah Vandenberg.

    ReplyDelete
  3. LSS should have their export license taken off them, and charged and prosecuted for animal cruelty. Surely we have laws that could do this??!!

    Replacing live food exports with Australian meats is value adding the meat market, creating more jobs and income, and best of all stopping the cruelty of live food exports.

    We need political will from ALL in Parliament, not just lone voices. Kelvin Thomson is doing his best - what about the rest?!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can't believe that in this day and age, within a world leading country, we can allow this to happen. Tell the Middle East "your business is welcome on our terms". Treat OUR animals in the Australian way, with dignity and respect. Let the world follow our lead.

    ReplyDelete
  5. thanks for this information. Ban Live Exports is the best way and end this cruel business

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just don't understand why this vile and cruel trade continues. The present government has no intentions of banning it, in fact their aim is to expand it. I've watched Barnaby Joyce in Parliament speak about this horrid trade and he yells and goes red in the face. I'm so disappointed that the Labour Party had every opportunity to ban this trade and did nothing. There was numerous petitions and one petition almost hit 300,000 signatures and there were protests as well and yet the government chose to ignore the voice of the people. It wasn't even given chance to have a conscience vote on the issue. Since then I have decided not to vote for anyone again. As far as I can work out it is obvious that the people are not represented by MP's or the government in general, they represent their party and their party's policies and are ruled by corporations. We the people don't really have a voice therefore how can we be the voice for the animals.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Keep up the good work Kevin. It is heartening to know that there is one voice of decency in Canberra.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Pathetic ! Wake up, Australia. Stop all live, or should I say, dead exports. All beef & lamb processing should be done in Australia, with the final product exported frozen. This boosts employment, is under regulation, and is better for the animals. A win for all.

    ReplyDelete
  9. the answer of carcass only trade is as clear as dogs you know what. I'm beginning to think its pure obstinacy that makes the mainstream pollies refuse to see this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Kelvin MP, Tim H and team... your steadfast perseverance admirable. Small steps do bring their reward, keep your spirits up! However, with the mob in charge of our present government, your dedication is doubly valuable, How can we shame people who see this treatment and condone it every day, such as most rural MPS? They are shameless, greedy, many are bullies and so are many of their constituents. Listen carefully to their language - "...I was able to GET RID OF THEM" said one smug and cruel rural interviewee, discussing his drought-affected animals!!! And take a careful look at their properties..hardly a tree to be seen, animals have to walk 1,000s metres for water. Harsh borderline desert country is no place for bovine or ovine creatures. And look what this type of habitat does to the humans who live there!!!

      Delete
  10. Unbelievable! I just sent MP Jamie Briggs a polite email requesting a meeting about Live Export as a follow up to a posted document about recent atrocities in Gaza in which I also requested a meeting. Here's his reply...

    "I do not intend to meet with you on this issue. The Australian Government’s position on this issue is clear (a position I support) and given that this is largely a campaign driven by a lobby group, there is very little chance that a reasonable discussion can take place. Therefore given this and the time pressures that we all fact, I have made a judgement not to have meetings associated with this issue."

    So much for democracy. I have never felt so powerless or so angry as I have since the Abbott government got in (by default). It is clear that Mr Abbott is only interested in serving the interests that got him elected.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are lucky to get a response Michele, my MP Ian Macfarlane, Minister for Industry, doesn't even respond to my correspondence to him regarding live export.

      Delete
  11. I cant stand that people refer to Animals as 'food'. Animals have a LOT in common with humans.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Michele Bain, your local member is an ignorant fool. Obviously there is a lot to discuss. Live export represents just 0.3% of Australia's total exports. The chilled meat trade is worth nearly 6 times more to the economy. The vast majority of jobs currently supported by the live trade would still exist if livestock were being sent to local markets. Ending live export would in fact create jobs in Australia through increased domestic processing. No other country has the capacity to export the number of disease-free animals of the size and type that Australia does. History has shown that when importing countries cannot get live animals from Australia (either due to drought impacting numbers available or suspensions due to cruelty or trade disputes) those countries simply increase their intake of chilled and frozen meat. Bahrain is currently taking more meat than ever from Australia; meat exports to Qatar have jumped 40% in the past 12 months; Jordan now imports 80% of its meat requirements as boxed product. Australia's live export industry has had over 3 decades in the Middle East, nearly 20 years in Egypt and 18 years in Indonesia to effect change. Instead of contributing to positive animal welfare outcomes, this industry has been contributing to appalling ones by condoning the use of cruel slaughter boxes and supplying animals to the fear and suffering of fully conscious slaughter. There is no moral, economic or legal reason for LE to continue. Sending livestock in metal containers into regions of extreme heat knowing for certain that many of them will 'bake to death' is pure sadism.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thankyou Kelvin and co, A politician with morals - what a breath of fresh air! Thankyou for you voice in this matter. This country is very quickly becoming morally corrupt with it's allowance of this heinous trade. The sooner it is banned, the better.

    ReplyDelete
  14. 'Largely a campaign driven by a lobby group.' Wow, what an appalling comment. Firstly it is a lobby group which just happens to have hundreds of thousands of supporters who donate millions because they care about this issue. Secondly, he is making you feel you are somehow an unthinking pawn who has less rights than his other constituents. No wonder you felt angry. Roll on the next election and keep supporting AA in the meantime!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Never has the silence of the lambs been so sad and avoidab le. These horrendous deaths are considered to be part of Australia's efforts to mitigate "food security" in overseas countries. This is really a euphemism for human population overshoot- too many people and not enough land and water to produce the food needed. The cost is great, and no animals should be sent alive to prop up human greed and lack of planning. Apart from the constant reports of atrocities, cruelty and deaths, it's politically unstable and can't be relied on. Each nation should be responsible for their own sustainable food supplies, and main foods should be locally produced, and exports should be a luxury, not a mainstream dependency.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wish more people are aware of what is happening around the subject of industrial slaughter (& let’s face it, there is no other kind of slaughter for the masses).
    The general public in South Africa for instance, not aware of the live export trade…

    ReplyDelete