SHAME ON AUSTRALIA.

More than 1,000 Australian sheep stranded in the Middle East aboard a ship
had died, Agriculture Minister Warren Truss said.

A shipment of 57,000 Australian sheep has been stranded for five weeks after
the Corvo Express was denied permission to unload in Saudi Arabia.

A Saudi vet had reported a high incidence of the disease scabby mouth, but
an Australian vet aboard disputed the finding and declared the sheep to be
healthy.

**Of course they are, any vet will tell you that cramming animals like
sardines for days on end in temperature of 40f is excellent animal care!**

Mr Truss said the death of more than two per cent of sheep aboard the
shipment automatically sparked an investigation into the export.

Asked the number of sheep which had died, Mr Truss replied: "I don't have
the exact number.

"But certainly the number of deaths will be above the two per cent which
triggers an investigation into the shipment and that investigation will be
conducted and all of those sorts of issues will be dealt with."

Two per cent of 57,000 was 1,140 dead head, but Labor claimed more than
4,000 sheep had died and the number was rising.

After being rejected by Saudi Arabia last month, the sheep have since been
refused by a second country.

With animal welfare organisations demanding the sheep be put down, their
owner has now offered to give them away to an unnamed country.

Mr Truss refused to confirm reports a Pakistani importer had offered to buy
them, saying speculation had been damaging in the past.

"Our chief priority is to ensure the welfare of the sheep and to get them
unloaded as quickly as possible," he said.

But Mr Truss said the sheep were the responsibility of their owner, a Saudi
importer.

"They are on a foreign vessel on the other side of the globe, but Australia
is seeking to use whatever commercial and diplomatic channels we can to find
a satisfactory resolution to the issues," he said.

"We're concerned about the welfare of the sheep and naturally are trying to
do what we can to facilitate a successful outcome."

Opposition primary industries spokesman Kerry O'Brien accused Mr Truss of
ignoring his responsibilities and said the government had failed to find a
diplomatic solution to allow the sheep to be offloaded at an alternative
port.



**Footnote:

Strange how the 'Australian Government' have only become involved in this
issue *after* all the adverse publicity.

They were sending them to Saudi Arabia for Christs Sake.
Did they spare a thought of the welcome they would receive in that third
rate piss hole of a country?

All live animal exports should be banned -NOW.

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Ray wrote:

>

> **Footnote:
>
> Strange how the 'Australian Government' have only become involved in this
> issue *after* all the adverse publicity.
>

Governments do not generally involve themselves in private business
transactions. The sheep are the responsibility of whoever owns them,
which would be the shipper of origin. And, lest this escaped you Ray,
the ship is registered under a foreign flag and sitting in a foreign
port; there's about bugger all the Australian government *can* do about it.

Have your friendly local barrister explain the concept of 'jurisdiction'
to you.

> They were sending them to Saudi Arabia for Christs Sake.
> Did they spare a thought of the welcome they would receive in that third
> rate piss hole of a country?
>

Presumably nobody would have shipped them at all unless there were a
buyer who had agreed to pay for them. Unless, that is, you honestly
believe that people load up ships with random cargo and send them around
the globe on a whim?

It's called trade; try looking it up, since they obviously didn't cover
the topic at whatever third rate piss hole of a school you went to...