Four Corners to expose brutal sheep cull in Pakistan
Reporter Sarah Ferguson is about to expose another livestock scandal, this time a brutal cull of 20,000 Australian sheep in Pakistan.
- Published by David Knox
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Four Corners reporter Sarah Ferguson, who previously reported on Australian cattle mistreated in Indonesia, is about to expose another livestock scandal, this time a brutal cull of 20,000 Australian sheep in Pakistan.
This is despite new government rules about exporting livestock to overseas countries.
“Another Bloody Business” will be the final episode of Four Corners  for 2012. It returns Monday 4th February 2013.
Four Corners’ 2011 expose of the brutal mistreatment of Australian cattle in Indonesia shocked many and had far reaching consequences for the live export trade. Tough new regulations were introduced to protect the welfare of Australian animals shipped overseas for slaughter.
But weeks ago news emerged from Pakistan of a brutal cull of 20,000 Australian sheep, ordered by the local authorities in Karachi. Sheep exporter Wellard told the Federal Government they lost control when police with semi-automatic weapons forced their employees away from the compound where the sheep were being held.
How did a major exporter lose control of a shipment of sheep in Pakistan, originally intended for Bahrain? Why was the Australian Government rebuffed by Pakistan when they tried to stop the cull? What does this gruesome episode say about the future of the live export trade?
Local authorities said the cull was carried out humanely. Pictures taken at the scene tell another story. This is a story the industry doesn’t want told – you be the judge.
Monday 5th November at 8.30 pm on ABC1.
Photo: file image.
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12 Responses
People can also get over complicated……I just wanted to weep……
great… the left wing ABC is going to cause more damage to australian meat export because of how some one else is killing the animals.
as noted previously, stop whinging about wanting to eat meat, but complaining how they are killed.
Don’t like it? don’t eat it….
as for me I’m off to cook a big bit of steak because this article made me hungry
@Kenny – read any letters to the editor page. See the outrage about animals being killed. Compare this with the hatred of humans seeking not to be killed. More particularly, look at government policy – any second now an asylum seeker cannot seek asylum in Australia, compared with banning live exports to Indonesia
@steveany 2.0 Regrettably I see nothing humane about killing another living creature to eat it – I don’t care how you do it.
@max – you’ve said more than enough.
@David – I haven’t suggested an either/or option for asylum seekers and those concerned with the killing of livestock. What I said was that Australians (by every measure available, and in practise) are more concerned with the welfare of animals we send to die, than of humans who come here to live.
Let me make this plain, if one cares so much about how animals are killed so they can be eaten, stop eating them. Don’t kill the animals at all.
And that spare room in your home ?- offer it to a refugee.
@Dr_Rudi – There’s also a big difference between genuine asylum seekers and illegal immigrants and people smugglers taking advantage of Australia’s pathetic border control.
Also, how do you kill a fly? Swat it outright or pull its wings and legs off one by one? Same goes for meat sources.
@steveany 2.0
Sorry if it came across as such but that was not what I said.
Rather I asked that we do not knee jerk but rather take a considered response to issues.
The reason what happens if we stop live trade now was mentioned is because you know next Tuesday there is going to be a outpouring of outrage and calls for it to be stopped. If we do, our country (not just our farmers) will be poorer and nothing changed.
I didn’t comment on this yesterday because animal cruelty distresses me and I’d rather not read about or see it (ostrich style), but there are a few comments I’d like to weigh in on.
@DrRudi – yours is a heartfelt comment but you’ve tarred us all with a pretty broad brush, @Secret Squirrel & Kenny are spot on, we are omnivores by design but that in no way means inhumane practices should be condoned.
And @David is right in that this is not an either/or proposition re asylum seekers.
@Ted – I’m genuinely sorry for our farmers, but not taking any action simply because Brazil and the US would replace us is specious at best. By that logic you would never arrest any criminals simply because other criminals would replace them.
Sometimes It’s just a pretty rotten world and that’s all there is to it.
These kind of reports worry me, but not as you expect.
Media is fed these types of scandals in order to hurt our our trade, not for any humane reasoning and the media jump on the bandwagon and the end result is, Aussie farmers lose trade, and another country steps in with nothing changed.
We lost one of our biggest earners when the AWB was destroyed by our media for doing business as business is done in that area, Aussie lamb and beef have both have “contamination scares” that were hyped out of proportion.
If we stopped live trade now, Brazil and the US would step right in with no changes to anything.
Always, always take these reports with a grain of salt, do not kneejerk overact and look at the bigger picture long term.
@Dr_Rudi – There’s a difference between humane and inhumane slaughter. Percussive stunning produces immediate unconsciousness through brain trauma. Shooting and burying alive doesn’t.
On what do you base your statement “Australians …. are more concerned with the welfare of animals we export to die; than they are with the welfare of human beings who come here to avoid dying.” ?
Completely disagree. There is nothing incongruous with being comfortable eating animals and wanting them to be well looked-after whilst alive, and for their deaths to be quick with minimal pain and distress.
People can be omnivorous and compassionate.
Also think it is possible to be concerned about asylum seekers and humane killing of livestock. It’s not an either / or.
Completely agree with Dr_Rudi.
Warning: Rant and diatribe ahead.
I am a vegetarian, and I cannot believe people who eat meat get upset with how animals they eat get slaughtered (or in this case culled). This is incongruent in the extreme. You eat them, you kill them, let’s not have any pretence about how that is done.
Secondly, I am disheartened that Australians (dare I say, particularly those who eat meat) are more concerned with the welfare of animals we export to die; than they are with the welfare of human beings who come here to avoid dying.
Grr. End of rant. Sorry David, I’ll endeavour to be my usual light-hearted self hereafter.