Australian minister ‘shocked’ by deaths of 2,400 sheep on export ship

The Australian government is launching an investigation into the deaths of thousands of sheep on an export ship to the Middle East after being shown graphic footage of the distressed and dying animals.

Announcing the probe, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said around 2,400 sheep died as a result of heat stress while travelling from Perth to three different Middle Eastern nations in August.

Littleproud that he was “shocked and gutted” after activist group Animals Australia presented him with footage from the voyage, and described conditions on board as “bullshit”.

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The dead animals comprised around 3.76% of the 63,800 sheep on board - almost twice the percentage that requires formal investigation, the BBC reports.

“This cannot go on,” Littleproud said. “We saw sheep that basically died from a heat event that were left and decayed, that were unable to get to water and food, and it disturbs me greatly that this has happened.”

The minister has threatened to block the departure of another vessel carrying 65,000 sheep from leaving Australia, pending the investigation.

His department is also considering a revised heat management plan for sheep exported to the Middle East during the hottest months, which is expected to be implemented this year, says ABC News.

The company responsible for last August’s consignment, Emanuel Exports, said it had “taken steps over more than six months to address the issues arising from our own extensive review of the voyage”.

This is not the first time Emanuel Exports has suffered a mass mortality event. In the summer of 2016, more than 3,000 sheep died in similar circumstances on an Emanuel ship travelling from Australia to Doha, Qatar.