Dubai: One of the biggest animal rights organisations has called for the ban of export of live cattle and sheep from Australia to the Middle East after it was found animals were being abused in the region.
Research conducted by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Egypt found the handling and slaughter of Australian exported animals completely unacceptable. The report also states that investigators found that Islamic slaughter principles (halal) were being continually breached.
Andrew Butler from Peta said abattoirs in the UAE have not yet been investigated but it is expected that they will also be in breach of halal methods.
The UAE is the sixth largest importer of Australian sheep. However, without a federal animal welfare law yet implemented here, changes, if any, might take a long time, Butler added.
The live export of sheep and cattle from Australia to the region can take between 10 days to 3 months and the stressful journey can render animals more vulnerable to disease he said.
Humaid Al Merri, the acting head of abattoirs from Dubai Municipality, said the method of transporting animals should be looked into and improved, rather than banned.
"I agree that they may suffer but God made these animals for human consumption and there are not enough animals in the UAE so we import them. People do not trust animals that are slaughtered in another country ... they cannot be sure," said Al Merri.
A source from the Animal Welfare department at the Ministry of Environment and Water said checks were consistently carried out on ships bringing in live animals.
Exports from Australia
- Saudi Arabia - 1,072,000
- Kuwait - 890,000
- Jordan - 884,000
- Bahrain - 525,000
- Oman - 359,000
- UAE - 230,000
- Qatar - 180,000
2005 figures from Peta
