The livestock trades out of Australia are changing in dramatic fashion in the weeks since a whistleblower seafarer exposed conditions onboard a ship during a primetime television show. Chastened by the public revulsion following the 60 Minutes exposé, Canberra has unveiled a raft of changes to how animals are sent overseas for export, most pertaining to shipments bound for the Middle East during the northern hemisphere’s summer season.
Now, Livestock Shipping Services (LSS), which exports up to a third of the 1.6m sheep sent from Western Australia each year, has confirmed it has paused operations over the northern summer months with its sheep shipping capacity being redeployed to South America instead.
Meanwhile, Western Australia’s largest livestock exporter, Emanuel Exports, had its headquarters raided by state government animal welfare officers yesterday as the state gears up for a possible prosecution of the company that was at the centre of the 60 Minutes documentary.
