I am well aware, JB, that sheep are not people. I am not an animal lover either, and I eat meat. But needless suffering should not be OK, and live exports constitutes needless suffering. Putting a stop to it was the only decent thing Gillard did. Most meat to most of our customers is exported as carcasses. If Muslim countries want to kill animals themselves, they should ensure that they carry enough for themselves to do so. Sheep and goats are well suited to their crappy countries. It is not the killing of animals I object to, it's the inhumane transporting of them I find objectionable. I would also suggest that all of the sheep tossed over the side were not dead either. Thankfully, the ship in question has been banned from loading more sheep in SA for the time being. I hope the agriculture minister sticks to his guns, and I respect the courage of the young man who brought the barbarity to our attention. He will never work in his chosen profession again and, as a Pakistani, it's odds on that he is a Muslim.

No matter how much I support trade and Australian farmers, I believe live transport of animals should be banned.

I do not want to see live exports banned, but I think we should insist on much higher standards. For a start, air conditioning should be mandatory.

Why on earth do the exporters of live animals export
into a ho,t steamy, humid, summer season, enclosed
in air-tight, unventilated ships, when records show that
animals will die in the thousands. Exporting into the
Northern Winter would resolve the problems.

The fault lies with us, no one else. And it's time for
the government to intervene and set the standards to
prevent this from happening.

Foxy,

"Why on earth do the exporters of live animals export
into a ho,t steamy, humid, summer season, enclosed
in air-tight, unventilated ships,..."

The ships are neither airtight nor unventilated if they were the crew would die in the toxic fumes, but that said, you're otherwise spot on.

To all,

Have a dekko at this: http://secure.animalsaustralia.org/take_action/live-export-shipboard-cruelty/?ua_s=BLE.com

and then say that Australia's name is not sullied by the live export sheep trade.

not quite as bad as the slaughter of unborn babies.

Dear Is Mise,

I just exaggerated to draw attention to the problem.

Besides, so many animals in tight spaces - generate a
lot of body heat, excrement, urine, and they trample
on each other due to lack of space - and breathe in
whatever available oxygen there may be and emit CO2.
Can't be good.

Exporting in cooler conditions would alleviate the heat
and humidity problem.