PETA Australia Pleads for End to Live Export in Light of Middle East Chaos

Last week, PETA Australia made an urgent plea to Australia’s Minister for Agriculture Joe Ludwig requesting that the live export of sheep and cattle to countries such as Egypt and Bahrain be immediately halted. The group pointed out that the countries’ recent political instabilities and disruptions in daily routine have the potential to cause delays in the unloading of sheep at ports and the transport of sheep to markets—and as a result, intensify the suffering of animals.

Sheep at a market in the Middle East, suffering from severe wool break due to bad conditions on export ships.

There is no humane way to ship thousands of animals around the world, but political instability has the potential to make the situation go from bad to worse. Sheep transported to the Middle East from Australia are packed onto enormous, multi-tiered ships and endure extremely crowded conditions. Many animals die from disease or starve to death when they cannot reach food and water troughs. Sheep are confined amid their own waste in furnace-like temperatures on ships that hold up to 100,000 animals.

In the letter, PETA Australia Director of Campaigns Jason Baker wrote, “Labour strikes have the potential to cause delays in the unloading of sheep at ports and the transport of animals to markets, and that could intensify the suffering of animals by lengthening the amount of time they are forced to endure stifling temperatures or limited access to food or water on ships.”

Want to help? Ask the Australian government to end live export immediately.

Posted by Jason Baker