Transport ship was hit with coronavirus outbreak: 56,000 Australian sheep will be culled

The federal government has refused an exemption to its live export ban that would have allowed 56,000 sheep to be transported to the Middle East, and they will now be slaughtered in Western Australia, foreign media reported.

The Al Kuwait vessel docked in Fremantle on May 22 was to take the sheep, but when crew members began testing positive to COVID-19 it left the ship stranded and the livestock in limbo at a feedlot.

The Department of Agriculture said it considered animal welfare and trade implications before denying Rural Export and Trading WA an exemption to its northern summer live export ban, which began on Monday, and reasons would be given this week.‘The livestock that was to be exported in this consignment remain at registered premises and ... there are no welfare concerns,’ the department said.

WA Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan said she presumed a rational decision had been made based significantly on weather analysis.‘This has not been a problem of Australia’s making,’ she told reporters on Wednesday. ‘While some people will be a bit grumpy about this, I’m sure that in the long run it is ensuring that we don’t have another disaster.’

Ms MacTiernan said the sheep would go to local processors and conceded the price of lamb could fall, but it would be modestRETWA managing director Mike Gordon said the decision would have significant trade ramifications.­