November 19, 2003

 

 

Australia's Activists Claim To Have Fed Pig Meat To Live Sheep Shipment Set For Middle East

 

Today, activists in Australia claimed to have fed pig meat to live sheep destined for the Middle East, hence making the livestock unsuitable for export to Muslim nations, in a protest in southern Australia against the export of live animals.

 

The tens of thousands of sheep were at a holding lot near the docks in Portland in Victoria state and were scheduled to leave Thursday on a ship called Al Shuwaikh, but activists said they believed that their overnight feeding raid would halt the shipment.

 

"The fact is they no longer meet the requirements of countries in the Middle East," Animal Liberation campaigner Ralph Hahnheuser told The Associated Press.

 

Muslims consider pigs unclean.

 

Agriculture Ministry officials and police were investigating whether the group's claim is true and possibility of any laws broken, a ministry spokesman said on condition of anonymity. Feeding animal products to livestock is banned, the spokesman said.

 

Australia ships live animals to Islamic countries that require halal meat products, which is meat from an animal that has been killed by a Muslim who slits its jugular vein and drains all the blood from the carcass. The trade is worth 195 million Australian dollars (US$125 million) a year, and Prime Minister John Howard has insisted it will continue.

 

Animal activists want the practice stopped, calling it cruel because the animals are shipped in containers that often are severely crowded and hot.

 

Last month, a ship carrying more than 50,000 sheep from Australia was stranded at sea after being rejected by Saudi Arabia, which cited health rules. By the time the sheep eventually were accepted by Eritrea, after 11 weeks at sea, about 3,770 had died on board.

 

Hahnheuser said his group, in a long-planned raid, spread pig meat and other meat additives into the feeding system for more than 70,000 sheep plus other livestock in the holding lot at Portland.

 

The food is not harmful to the animals and would remain in their system for 21 days, rendering them "unsuitable for export to Muslim countries," the group said in a statement sent to Australian media.

 

Hahnheuser said that in addition to notifying the Australian government about the feeding raid, the group was contacting ambassadors from the Middle Eastern nations where the shipment was believed to be destined.

 

"We just can't see how the government and the exporter can act in good faith and continue with the shipment once they know about it," he said.

 

The Agriculture Ministry spokesman said it was illegal to feed animal products to livestock. "This would be an illegal act, so the police are involved," the spokesman said. "If this was to be true, it's a very serious claim."

 

Hahnheuser maintained his group broke no law, and said members did not have to break into the sheep holding area because it is open to members of the public who want to go for hikes.