Animals Australia launches legal action to stop Al Kuwait from departing with sheep during northern hemisphere summer ban

Plans to ship tens of thousands of sheep to the Middle East during the northern hemisphere summer are in danger of being stalled after an eleventh-hour court bid from activist group Animals Australia. It comes as the Federal Department of Agriculture on Monday night was scrambling to find an “independent observer” to oversee the Al Kuwait’s voyage after a last-minute request from WA Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan. The Rural Export and Trading WA had planned to start loading about 45,000 sheep on to the ship on Monday afternoon but had to delay that after Animals Australia filed an urgent application in the Federal court to stop the live export. The case was adjourned late yesterday and a judgment is expected on Tuesday morning. The ship is in Fremantle and was meant to depart for Kuwait late last month but was unable to set sail after several crew members tested positive for COVID-19. The outbreak threw the future of some 56,000 sheep into doubt. They are being held at a Baldivis pre-quarantine export facility. Given the northern hemisphere ban on shipping sheep to the Middle East started on June 1, RETWA had to apply to the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment for an exemption. After RETWA’S first request to use an alternative ship was rejected, the department over the weekend approved a second application to use the Al Kuwait after the ship was disinfected and sick crew members had recovered. Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council said the department had not issued the export permit as it awaited the outcome of the court case, so RETWA was unable to start loading the ship as planned. Under conditions of the approval, the sheep must be loaded by midnight Wednesday. Ms MacTiernan has written to her Federal counterpart David Littleproud requesting that the voyage has an independent observer aboard and there is real time monitoring of conditions on the ship. An independent observer is generally a government-appointed veterinarian. “As the minister responsible for agriculture and animal welfare in WA, I have an obligation to consider the welfare of the animals being exported and the long-term sustainability of our livestock exports,” Ms MacTiernan said. It is understood the Federal Government has been trying to find an independent observer for the two-week voyage. However, failure to do so would not stop the ship from departing.