News that 42 crew and 28,000 animals drowned when a Panamanian-flagged livestock carrier sank on December 17 near Lebanon coincided with a positive report by an Australian vet about his country’s live-animal trade to Bahrain and Qatar.

The Danny FII, formerly a car carrier, rolled in a storm in the Eastern Mediterranean. The British captain was aboard when it sank with the loss of about half the crew, 10,224 sheep and 17,932 cattle. Rescue efforts by ships and helicopters were hampered by high winds and seas and floating animal carcases.

In contrast, Australian Veterinary Association vice president Barry Smyth says (AVJ December 2009) 99.85% of cattle and 99.1% of sheep arrive at their destination in good health. In September 2009 he inspected the facilities and animals of Australia’s live export trade, hosted by Meat & Livestock Australia and Livecorp Middle East and North Africa representatives Peter and Sharon Dundon. He visited the livestock market, public abattoir, a feedlot and a commercial abattoir.

A commercial feedlot in Doha, the capital of Qatar, takes sheep and cattle from Western Australia (WA). Smyth says it had large pens with complete shade, water troughs and peripheral feed troughs. The sheep and cattle had been there three weeks and were in “good store condition”, much as in Australia. Pens in the feedlots were steel and concrete with dirt floors; all were completely shaded and in “reasonably good” repair.

“In Qatar sheep or goats are bought are bought in the market and taken to the public slaughterhouse. For about $A5 the animal is killed under Halal protocols and processed by trained workers under vet supervision. The carcase is plastic-bagged for the owner. The process takes at most 10 minutes.”

At the commercial abattoir, sheep carcases are sold to local butchers who process them further for sale to the public, restaurants and local hotels.

Smyth says at a commercial abattoir in Bahrain he watched sheep killed and processed. The restrained animals were killed with a large, very sharp knife to the throat, with all blood vessels severed. No sound was heard from the sheep, which rapidly became unconscious and still.

After a minute or so, the carcase was hoisted on an overhead moving chain to allow blood to drain completely. Once cleaned, trimmed and inspected they were stored in a chiller.

Transport to butcher shops and wholesale markets takes place about 4am in refrigerated trucks.

Smyth says in both abattoirs he saw “sheep treated properly, and killed efficiently and professionally. The remainder of the butchering was done competently with minimal hand movements and knife cuts”.

Australia supplies 90-95% of the fresh sheep meat into some Middle East countries, Smyth says, “because we can supply large-frame mature sheep – mainly from WA – that are climatically adapted to hot conditions.

“Australia has gained a reputation as a reliable supplier of suitable product over many years. The Australia sheep flock has excellent health status compared with most other countries.”

Australia has supplied the Middle East for 20 years, working to improve standards, which other suppliers have not, Smyth says. Notable improvements include: Improved selection of suitable sheep; Preconditioning of sheep for voyages; Nutrition; Ship facilities and loading;

Training of handlers, local consumers and processors in how to better handle meat products;

Changing management practices;

Educating local authorities in animal handling and welfare;

Introducing animal welfare legislation in some countries;

Use of international animal welfare guidelines;

Introducing extra inter-government contract agreements to ensure animals are unloaded promptly;

Moving towards pre-slaughter stunning (at present only in Jordan).

Smyth says Australia is the only exporting country conducting regular animal-welfare activities and making infrastructure improvements in the region.

Australia has permanent staff in Bahrain, supported by six veterinary and livestock consultants who make regular trips to the Middle East to advise on how to maintain the welfare of imported animals.