 Seven million live animals are exported from Australia each year to the Middle East, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Mexico. Sheep, cows, pigs, goats, camels and deer all face weeks at sea. Conditions on board are notoriously bad and totally inappropriate for live animals – some of the vessels are just converted car carriers! Up to 140,000 animals may be transported in one vessel. The Australian Government’s Department of Agriculture has admitted that approximately 100,000 sheep die on these ships each year, but this figure is almost certainly understated. There are several regular causes of death:
- Starvation – often the animals are so tightly packed together that the weaker or more timid animals cannot get to the food troughs during the voyage; moreover, animals are only offered dried food, which many will not eat because they are used to grazing.
- Thirst – similarly only those animals closest to the water can drink.
- Accidents – ship-board fires, leaks and ventilation failure have caused the death of numerous animals.
 Disease – salmonellosis and respiratory diseases are commonplace on these ships. The animals’ pens are not cleaned during the whole voyage, so by the end they are standing a foot-deep in their own urine and faeces, breathing in ammonia fumes, which can cause both blindness and respiratory failure.- Heat exhaustion – animals are regularly shipped in temperatures of up to 40ºC.
Those that do not die suffer horribly. Often, during the overland journey across Australia to their port of departure (which can mean up to four days in a truck), animals suffer broken limbs and other injuries, but, despite rules to the contrary, are loaded onto the ships. And of course, during the voyage itself, animals undergo week after week of pain and fear – all too frequently, animals that begin their voyage in perfect health reach their slaughter destination starving, thirsty, injured and blind.
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The death toll
 Research has shown that the death rate is absurdly high, so much so that mortality is routinely allowed for in the initial calculations of profit margins. The sad truth is that the following few examples of incidents that have been documented reflect just a very small percentage of the overall death toll!
- 1980 - the Farid Fares caught fire and sank while en route from Australia to the Middle East, killing all 40,605 sheep on board. In the same year, disease killed 2,713 sheep on the Kahleej Express.
- 1981 - 635 sheep died during transfer from the Kahleej Express to the A1 Shuuwaikh, and 8,764 sheep perished on board the Persia due to ventilation breakdown.
- 1985 - 15,000 sheep died (mainly from heat exhaustion) on the Fernanda F while it was en route from Australia to the Middle East.
- 1990 - 10,000 sheep died from suffocation and over-heating on the way from New Zealand to Saudi Arabia on the Cormo Express.
- 1996 - 67,488 sheep died when the Uniceb caught fire en route from Australia to Jordan. The animals were either burned alive or died from smoke asphyxiation or from drowning.
- 1998 - 154 cattle and 283 goats died after a financial dispute delayed unloading of the Anomis in Malaysia; 346 cattle died on the Charolais Express en route to the Middle East; 50 cattle died while in port in Jordan and a further 174 injured or ill cattle were rejected on arrival in the Middle East. These animals were apparently killed and disposed of at sea on the return journey.
- 1999 - 800 cattle (about 80% of the total cargo!) suffocated on a ship bound from Darwin to Indonesia, and the carcases were thrown overboard.
- 2002 - 900 cattle died on the maiden voyage of the Becrux, a ship initially praised for its improved hygiene and ventilation. More than 2,300 sheep died en route from Portland, Australia to the Middle East on the Al Shuwaikh, before the ship had even left Australian waters.
- 2003 - Cormo Express fiasco - cargo of 57,000 sheep stranded in the sweltering heat of the Gulf for nearly three months - 5,800 perished horribly.
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The secret shameful face of Australia
 When the news of the Cormo Express disaster broke in 2003, Naturewatch was already becoming involved with Australian live exports and forging links with organisations such as PACAT and Animals Australia. We agreed to co-sponsor (with Compassion in World Farming) the work of PACAT (People Against Cruelty in Animal Transport) to  lobby the Australian Government, both State and Federal, and to raise public awareness among the Australian people – who, in the main, have made it abundantly clear that they do not want the trade to continue.
Naturewatch supporters in the UK got involved by helping to raise public awareness of this cruel trade, collecting petition signatures, distributing leaflets, postcards and writing to the Australian High Commission in London to emphasise the fact that this cruel trade is damaging Australia’s reputation as a civilised country and attending our demonstration in London. We produced a template protest letter that was sent out with a campaign mailing and it was also available on our website. |