The future of more than 15,000 sheep and cattle remains in limbo after the federal regulator blocked a bid to send them to Israel via a lengthy journey around Africa.
The MV Bahijah set sail for the Middle East from Western Australia on January 5 but turned back due to the ongoing Yemen Houthi rebels attacks in the Red Sea.
The Marshall Islands-flagged carrier has been back in Australian waters since late last month but essentially stranded as the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry seeks to balance Australia’s biosecurity and the animals’ wellbeing.
A few hundred healthy animals have been unloaded and quarantined on the mainland and a “low number” have died aboard but there are “no significant health or welfare concerns”, the department says.
Tonight, the department regulator rejected an application by the ship’s Israel-based Bassem Dabbah to re-export the animals on a much longer journey around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
It said it couldn’t be satisfied the arrangements would ensure the animals’ health and welfare, nor that other specific importing and exporting requirements had or would be complied with.
“The livestock on the vessel continue to be in good health and they remain under veterinary care and supervision. There is no suspicion of exotic pests or diseases within the livestock,” the regulator said.
