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Israel’s
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan moved to ban ‘cruel’ long-haul shipments
of living animals from Australia to Israel on Sunday.
Expose
Erdan was
inspired by an expose created by Animals Australia that aired on Australia’s television
program 60 Minutes last week.
The expose – which Animals Australia says is the first of its kind –
documented gruelling trips from Australia to the Middle East forced upon
sheep destined for slaughter.
Each
journey featured lasted upward of three weeks, with footage revealing extreme
overcrowding, oppressive heat, and a lack of clear access to food or water.
Heat wave
A Twitter
post from 60 Minutes Australia shared footage of the animals during a five-day
heat wave.
The caption
said: “Ship
records show that on the second day, 880 sheep die.
“That’s one death every two minutes.”
One
shipment’s death toll was 2,400.
The victims of were thrown
overboard.
‘Unbearable
conditions’
Parts of
the original expose were also aired during Israeli television program Hadashot,
which had veterinarian Yuval Samuel as a guest, and commenter.
After
witnessing the footage, Samuel said: “They literally cook from the inside while
alive during the journey.”
Despite previous promises from the agriculture ministry, the government has reportedly failed to reduce livestock export in the past.
