

Sheep cruelty concerns Exporters Council

The Australian Livestock Exporters' Council says it's deeply concerned by a video showing the cruel treatment of sheep in Jordan.

The video, taken by Animals Australia and aired on ABC television, is being investigated by the government.

It showed sheep being dragged along the ground, thrown into car boots and carved open at the throat during the Eid al-Adha - or Festival of Sacrifice - in Jordan in mid-October, and has rekindled debate about Australia's live export trade.

Animals Australia says thousands of Australian sheep were sold at roadside markets in the lead-up to the festival, outside of the federal government's Exporter Supply Chain Assurance Scheme (ESCAS) brought in after the Indonesian abattoir scandal in 2011.

Australian Livestock Exporters' Council chief executive Alison Penfold said she was deeply concerned by the treatment of the sheep in the footage, irrespective of where they came from.

"If you care for animals, you treat them well," she told ABC radio.

"I know there's people that are extremely distressed to see the system that was put in place last year has potentially broken down and sheep have exited controlled situations.

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"But on the other hand, what that footage does highlight is why we have the system, why we need to have the controls in place."

She said the system worked most of the time, but would always be judged when it didn't.

"When people see animals thrown into the back of utes or pretty crude methods of slaughter, ultimately they say `well, you made the decision to export the livestock, you're ultimately responsible'.

"So we have to get about the job of mitigating the risk of breaches of that supply chain."

She said the religious significance of Eid and feeding of the needy needed to be respected, but untrained animal handling - which still also occurred in Australia - should be stamped out.

"It's very concerning for our industry to continue to see these sorts of incidents."

© AAP 2018


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