Australia wants good relations with Pakistan despite sheep incident
01/11/2012
However, Mr Heyward has written to a Pakistani newspaper called Dawn to clarify what he called “inaccurate comments” surrounding the incident, in which a shipment of 22,000 live sheep, exported from Australia, were slaughtered by the authorities in Karachi in the build-up to the Eid al-Adha festival at the end of October and the meat disposed of. Pakistani officials said they had carried out this action on animal health grounds.
Mr Heyward said the shipment of the sheep was “a normal commercial transaction between two companies that have been professionally engaged in the livestock trade for many years”. The companies concerned were Australian livestock exporter Wellard Rural Exports and a local trading partner, PK Livestock.
“The Australian government’s role was to ensure the safe and ethical regulation of the industry in Australia,” the High Commissioner continued. “The animals fully met the importing country’s health requirements and the exporter complied with Australian export regulations.The sheep were inspected by veterinary officers 72 hours prior to export to confirm that they showed no signs of contagious and infectious diseases.”
He said the sheep were originally destined for the Middle East but were diverted to Karachi “to avoid delays at sea and to protect the welfare of the animals”. Contrary to reports in Pakistan, he insisted the consignment was not rejected by Bahrain. All certification was in place and the animals were inspected by veterinary health officials on arrival in Pakistan and were confirmed as meeting Pakistan’s import requirements.
“It is due to these rigorous procedures that we could assure the government and people of Pakistan the sheep posed no risk for human consumption,” Mr Heyward concluded. “A letter from Australia’s chief veterinary officer was provided to the Sindh High Court on Sept 28 outlining the system and procedures taken by the Australian government to ensure the health and welfare of the animals on the ship. The health status of the sheep was also verified by independent laboratory testing by the UK’s Pirbright Institute. While this issue has been most unfortunate and has resulted in the destruction of sheep which we are confident were healthy and fit for consumption, we do not wish the incident to harm Australia-Pakistan trade relations.”
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