CANBERRA, 13 September 2003 — More than 50,000 sheep stranded for five weeks on an Australian ship should be killed to end their suffering, an opposition leader and a respected animal welfare group said yesterday, claiming that thousands of the animals had already died.
“It’s just horrific that this ship has been turned into a death ship,” said Sen. Bob Brown, leader of the Australian Greens Party, who called for the sheep to be put down.
Saudi authorities turned away the shipload of 57,000 live sheep last month claiming that 6 percent were infected with scabby mouth disease — 1 percentage point more than the Saudi government has agreed to allow.
