Emanuel Exports and two of its former directors have been charged for alleged cruelty to sheep after an 18 month investigation sparked by the 2017 Awassi Express footage.
Oh yes, and this week, the Dept of Ag concluded the footage was not contrived and no illegal payments were made...oh what a surprise. And then this week, the Govt announced that the export ban for sheep would be extended to 22 September, and that once trade resumed, shipments through the Middle East would be required to submit a heat stress management plan, adhere to new lower stocking densities, and automatically collect on-deck temperatures to send to the department. Could things be unravelling here for live ex....?!!!
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The Senate has called on the Department of Agriculture to release dozens of outstanding reports from independent observers on live export ships, more than a year after some of those voyages have ended.
To the surprise of everyone, the Coalition backed the motion from the Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi on Wednesday, saying the observers were intended to provide greater transparency over the live export trade. Labor also backed the motion, which called on the government to release the outstanding reports and committed to releasing future reports in a timely manner. VALE's careful compilation and analysis of Independent Observer reports has highlighted the differences between the real reports and the official reports and makes it easy to find both the cover ups and the gaps. VALE applauds all in the Senate for their support of this motion. See full report in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/24/rspca-seriously-concerned-about-sanitised-live-export-observer-reports See VALE's Independent Observer report assessment page: http://www.vale.org.au/independent-observer-reports.html Wow is this industry desperate: trials to dehumidify ships so that they can resume a ME summer sheep trade!
The good news is that they finally get the fact that ship conditions are a major welfare condition that need to be addressed (after 40 years). The bad news is that the dehumidification trial is funded through an Australian Government grant of $2.2 million. What a waste of money.....If the ships can be dehumidifed, what happens then? Sheep conditioned to low WBT emerge in Qatar to be loaded into trucks in high WBT...and then off to high WBT in the feedlots. How are the industry going to address that? Dehumidify the trucks and the feedlots or perhaps just dehumidify the whole Middle East? If only the money had been used to really help primary producers transition and find new markets rather than just wasting more money on a dying trade. The RSPCA has welcomed the Australian government's release of proposed new regulatory protections for live sheep exported to the Middle East during the months of September and October but is concerned at the suggestion live sheep exports might yet be resumed during this highest-risk period.
The Department of Agriculture's proposed new regulatory options, released last week for a 10-day public consultation period, include two options that the RSPCA says reflect the science and evidence, and significantly restrict live sheep exports during the month of September. However, despite all evidence, there is one option that would allow exports to continue throughout September. The government havent publicised this (no doubt they notified industry) so go onto the government website and have your say....but you need to get in before the 22nd July. See: https://haveyoursay.agriculture.gov.au/sep-oct-2019-sheep-exports As of today, the securities of Wellards have been suspended from ASX quotation.
Another BIG nail in the coffin. Theoretically Wellards can still rise from the abyss but it seems unlikely. The most likely outcome is that it will be broken up and assets (ships) sold off to other operators. What a shame! Officials from the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development last week raided the Anna Marra live export ship which was docked in Fremantle port. The officials were searching for documents relating to the deaths of about 2000 sheep on the ship in 2017 during a voyage to Kuwait. And the industry is upset???
We have footage that shocks a nation and a full scale investigation into that. The consequences for the animals were shocking. The repercussion for both industry and farmers enormous....and some time down the track more information is required by the investigators and the ship is raided......seems reasonable. But no, the bleating live ex industry describes it as a vendetta. Oh please. More than 1,500 head of cattle and 99 buffalo from Australia have disappeared from approved feedlots or abattoirs in Vietnam over the past 13 months, according to a Federal Department of Agriculture report.The Dept has outline 2 critical, one major and one minor non-compliance. (See ABC report)
One incident shows CCTV cameras were tampered with before 644 head of cattle went missing from a feedlot. The feedlot owner denied any of the cattle were missing when first time exporter Purcell tried to verify their whereabouts, the owner was unable to provide any evidence. According to the ESCAS report, "the feedlot owner seemed to have complete disregard for ESCAS requirements despite verbal advice to the contrary". In a separate incident, exporter Livestock Shipping Services (LSS) could not account for "nearly 1,000 animals" it shipped to Vietnam, which the company did not report to the department within the time period required under ESCAS rules. Eventually, the company was able to track down where the animals went, determining that of the 872 cattle, 471 were traced to approved abattoirs and 401 died or were euthanased in feedlots. WOW....50% feedlot deaths.....ESCAS failure vs feedlot failure? Which is worse? RSPCA stated that "Even though it is only a third of the size of the Indonesian market, it has three times the number of non-compliances over the last several years … that's a factor the Australian Government needs to take seriously," Mr Goodfellow said. Once again, it is clear that no scheme an protect Australian cattle and sheep once they leave Australian shores. The Ocean Drover has a low mortality voyage on a May-June voyage and an n=1 is apparently supposed to change the face of heat stress science!
The 28C wet bulb limit was exceeded on the 8th day of the 15-day voyage when a 34C wet bulb temperature was recorded but Wellard stated: “The success of this voyage, with almost 57,000 sheep on board, demonstrates that modern ships with good ventilation and reduced stocking densities can achieve excellent animal welfare performance, even when hot and/or humid conditions occur,” he said. So here we are right back at the beginning. Sheep can suffer but not die and that is all OK. Its amazing how much Wellards know about science...more it seems than their financial expertise. The media in Israel have reported that the Maysora, carrying 20,000 cattle in addition to sheep arrived in Eilat on the morning of Friday, June 7. Reportedly, workers began removing the animals from the ship Friday night, and didn’t finish for five days. The animals onboard were left in hot, crowded conditions.
The Agricultural Ministry said 34 of the calves died onboard, and 30 died after disembarking, according to the report. Footage of the dead cattle with Australian ear tags can be seen here (WARNING: distressing): https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=299050004143437 If that is not bad enough, the footage of the unloading (WARNING: distressing) in temperatures that killed people that week was nothing short of appalling with electric prodding and stomping of down animals. NOTE: the media link states Friday June "8th". Friday was June 7th and Marine Traffic had the Maysora docking in Eilat on Friday June 7th. NEW ZEALAND’S agriculture minister Damien O’Connor says the country is considering a conditional ban on the live export of cattle as one of several options being examined as part of a review of the country’s trade in live animals.
He stated “there have been incidents over the last few years that highlight the fact that once animals leave New Zealand we have very limited ability to ensure their wellbeing when they reach their destination. “That’s something that’s not acceptable to me and I know it’s not acceptable to a large number of New Zealanders. GO NZ. NZ has always been ahead of Aust in animal welfare....looks like the gap is set to widen further! |
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