50,000 Sheep stuck at Sea!

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

 

Not sure if anyone as seen this story. It is sick the way animals are shipped

around

the world. Something that we never hear about. Who knows what kind of

conditions

these sheep have gone through. And there suffering is not over. I'm amazed

PETA

didn't jumnp all over this story. None of the US news stations have covered it

that I'm

aware of... short of a small article 2 weeks ago in the SF Exaiminer, this BBC

article is

the only thing I've found.

 

 

The URL:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3199806.stm

 

The Story:

 

A ship carrying about 50,000 Australian sheep is on its way back to Australia

after

being stranded in the Middle East for the last two months.

 

About 30 countries have refused to accept the sheep, claiming some of them are

diseased.

 

Now the ship carrying the so-called " sheep of shame " is heading for the remote

Cocos Islands, off the coast of Western Australia, and should arrive in about 10

days

time.

 

The sheep will go through a rigorous quarantine inspection, but it is not yet

known if

they will be sent back to mainland Australia to be slaughtered.

 

After leaving the Australian port of Fremantle, the sheep were originally

destined for

Saudi Arabia.

 

But Saudi authorities in Jeddah said some of the animals were diseased and

refused to

accept them.

 

The Australian government disputed this and the Prime Minister, John Howard,

said

the Saudis had no proper basis for refusing the cargo.

 

Several other countries also turned down the sheep when the animals were offered

to

them instead.

 

Animal rights groups around the world said the sheep should have been

slaughtered

rather than remain stuck on the ship.

 

More than 5,000 have died during the voyage.

 

According to Mr Howard, large-scale slaughter at sea would have raised serious

environmental concerns.