Photo courtesy of ABC TV: 7.30 Report. A cow is poked with a cattle prod in the Israeli abattoir.

The ABC1 4 Corners program, Another Bloody Business, screened on 5 November 20, exposed the circumstances of the brutal Pakistani sheep slaughter where sheep rejected by Bahrain (for alleged disease) were re-routed to Pakistan, an unapproved destination when the shipment left Fremantle. The ABC 1 7.30 program, Israeli abattoir abuse questions Australia’s live export system, screened on 11 December 2012 exposed how an exporter-paid audit of the Israel Bakar Tnova abattoir in July 2012 recorded just a rusty gate causing excessive noise’, where only two months later, footage taken by an Israeli undercover journalist depicted brutal handling and slaughter practices. As a result, the Panel wrote to all government MPs on 20 November  and 14 December 2012.

In the letter of 20 November 2012, the Panel noted:

“And so the department signed off on Pakistan whilst the Ocean Drover was in transit from Bahrain to Karachi….Such was the focus by the department [of agriculture] then on securing the alternative port rather than the welfare of the 21,000 animals that it did not disclose to the Pakistani authorities the fact of the shipment’s rejection by Bahrain on the ground of  alleged disease….It is not to the point that the sheep were disease free. What is to the point is that the department (and the exporter and the importer) chose to run the gauntlet with the animals’ welfare. For not surprisingly, the relevant Pakistani veterinary chief officer said: If it is harmful for the Bahrain, it’s not harmful for Pakistan? Why? Because we are not humans?The awful fate of these 21,000 animals was in retrospect sealed at this point.”

In the letter of 14 December 2012, the Panel noted:

‘The exporter-paid audit [July 2012] was described in the ‘7.30’ program by the federal department of agriculture as an “initial” audit. Yet “initial” audits are required from 1 September 2012 to secure ESCAS approval for an export consignment of animals. And subsequent ‘performance” audits are only conducted after arrival at the foreign market and during or at the conclusion of their processing/slaughter … The “initial” audit compares unfavourably with that undertaken at random by the Israeli journalist. The later “performance” audits are simply too late. In any event, the agriculture department can waive further “performance” audits for cattle and buffalo after the first five shipments … Such a deeply flawed audit process would seem to favour industry getting export approval rather than rigorously securing the animals’ welfare and protection beforethey embark on their long journey, let alone when they arrive at the port of destination. What may be done to protect the animals in any event if a “performance” audit detects a problem, knowing Australian jurisdiction ceases when the animals are unloaded dockside , such as occurred in the Pakistani sheep slaughter case.”

You can read the Panel’s letter here. The Panel opposes Australia’s live export trade, and has written to federal MPs on previous occasions.