I have lived on a farm down south and aboriginal communities up north and animal cruelty abounds in both places, except on farms it’s generally not intentional.
People tend to overlook the fact that live meat is essential in the markets we sell to overseas, not just for religious reasons but also because many of the buyers of this meat have no refrigeration and meat needs to be processed daily, which is only possible if the animal is alive.
Being transported by boat is really no different than being transported by truck and currently some animals spend days locked in trucks whilst being transported to markets.
Surely it is possible, in this day and age, to be able to provide the most humane means of transport we can, whilst still allowing the practise to continue.
But for those truly upset by the treatment of live animals on ships, I suggest you never watch footage of how those animals are treated by the people who buy them at the other end. I’m fairly stoic but even I was horrified at how these sheep were transported to people’s homes.

Big Nana, I was involved in the original trade delegation to Baghdad, I/we supplied the sheep crates (aka livestock transporting semi trailers) as part of the original and on-going live sheep export trade. Obviously it has been many years ago now. You are quite right in your point about how they are treated at their destination. I remember one example where a Mercedes turned up and a sheep was loaded into the boot, (trunk). This was not considered cruel to them, but merely the norm. In seeing that I was reminded of the story where an Aussy farmer bought a prize ram from the auctions. He put it in the back seat of his new Mercedes. Whilst refueling the attendant alerted him to the fact that the ram was tearing up his back seat with his horns. In response the farmer said, 'that's ok son, he's worth more than the car'. Different world, different priorities. To me they are both wrong but that is for them to decide. We are merely observers. And yes, money is the key driver to everything on earth. A statement which sickens me is 'for the greater good'. This is the politicians mantra, and it gives them a free pass to all manner of wrong decisions. I have been challenged by many and now by the author of the topic. He maintains the topic is live sheep export trade. He does not see that if the sheep ALL arrived alive, we would not have this discussion. He claims I am off topic by suggesting the topic is in fact the 'dead sheep or the dead sheep export trade'. I take a realistic view and say that right now this is the norm, and merely accept that, like employment, you can never expect 100% full employment and neither should you, unless you are in control of ALL parameters. It is immature and child-like in thinking that we can transport sheep without losses. I say to my detractors, 'GROW UP' or MOVE ON.

ttbn, I can also give as good as I get, in fact I can comeback with such abuse you have never heard, so tell the smart arses who replace their lack of intelligent comments with abuse so as to hide their inadequacies. How many times must I remind commentors, these are discussion forums, designed to exchange information in an attempt to arrive at the truth and learn something along the way. It has nothing to do with emotions. So if someone wants to start throwing abuse around, it's OK, I will respond in kind. Then I would like to get back to the topic. If the abuse persists then that person must be sanctioned because this is not the forum for such matters. If someone is offended by my comments, I don't care. If I have made a factual mistake, I would be greatful to being corrected as I am attempting to make a point with the correct facts. It is the reader who makes the decision to be offended. I will say it again; emotions have no place in discussions. They only contaminate a discussion and therefore the conclusion.

Dear ALTRAV,

Well here you are again using your broad range of endearing terms like morons, f-wits, idiots, little children, ignorant, on the dole, twat, sh!thead, and snivelling just to raise a few.

Let me see if I can earn my little gold star as one of your detractors.

Firstly let us acknowledge of your broad hatred of Aussies, something you have made abundantly clear on numerous occasions.

But far more seriously we should unpack your probable pathology. You have expressed zero empathy for the welfare of these animals, something that is a red flag for any decent psychologist or psychiatrist, and it speaks directly to either your intelligence or your psychopathic tendencies, or even both.

“There may be cognitive limits in the ability to take the perspective of others,” explains Hodson. In other words, the less intelligent you are, the harder it may be for you to put yourself in another’s shoes — and the more likely you are to hold prejudiced beliefs about other groups. If someone is unmoved by the plight of elephants shackled, beaten and forced to perform in circuses or of animals poisoned and blinded in laboratories, perhaps they similarly lack the ability to consider the animals’ point of view. The anecdotal evidence linking intelligence and empathy for animals is certainly intriguing. Some of the world’s greatest minds from throughout history — including Pythagoras, Leonardo da Vinci, Mohandas Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy — have been vegetarian.”
http://www.scoop.it/t/empathy-and-animals/p/1253541113/2012/02/20/lack-of-empathy-for-animals-linked-to-lower-intelligence

“The link between animal abuse and interpersonal violence is becoming so well established that many U.S. communities now cross-train social-service and animal-control agencies in how to recognize signs of animal abuse as possible indicators of other abusive behaviors.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/magazine/13dogfighting-t.html

You certainly show proclivities towards interpersonal violence, you have illustrated a singular lack of empathy for the animals involved, and you have vigorously attacked any posters who have raised concerns about their treatment.

Are you an idiot or a psychopath?

SR, now you see, you are the one we should all be concerned about. I have explained my case and I stand by my comments and opinions. Your problem and others like you is that you have not experienced life and all it's foibles. I told you I don't care what you think of me personally, it has no bearing on the facts or the topic of discussion. This is where I call you some of the most vial and put-downs I can conjure up; if I could be bothered. It's a given. When I call you and your lot out with words and names you obviously take offence to, look back at previous postings and you will see that it's in response to some morons attack on me. Now, let's deal with my empathy problem. I don't care what people said what about someone who has no empathy for animal cruelty. You are full of sh!t by attacking me in this way as I have said that what happens to these animals is SAD, not cruel. This is where I call you a name befitting your level of intellect and understanding on this particular comment. The topic is LIVE sheep export, not DEAD sheep export. What do you and your fairy mates expect? A 100% survival rate? If you do then I am justified in calling you whatever names I want for being so blatantly stupid and uninformed. So when you finally come to accept that sheep will die whether in a ship, in a paddock, in a holding pen or in a sheep crate, you will have learned something and gained another level of maturity. In the meantime shove your arrogant suggestions of some idiot academics and their studies. For the record, I'm not a violent man, never have been, but I will not stand idly by and accept some fools opinion of something they know NOTHING about. I do. Did you actually read my post about being part of the original live sheep delegation to Baghdad? Or were you suckling on your mothers teet at the time?

//People tend to overlook the fact that live meat is essential in the markets we sell to overseas, not just for religious reasons but also because many of the buyers of this meat have no refrigeration//

No refrigeration? Then let them eat vegetables.

There you go, problem solved.

//Surely it is possible, in this day and age, to be able to provide the most humane means of transport we can//

Of course it's possible. But that doesn't mean that live exporters will - unless the Government makes them. I don't think it's unreasonable for voters to tell the Government they would like to see such policies enacted.