The RSPCA has welcomed the draft report of the Heat Stress Risk Assessment (HSRA) review, which was released today for public consultation.
Particularly, the RSPCA welcomes the long overdue acknowledgment of the scientific evidence regarding the inevitable heat stress experienced by sheep during the Middle Eastern summer months.
The recommendation to shift the HSRA model from one based on animal mortality to one based on animal welfare will have significant consequences for the trade’s viability with the likely cessation of the May to October summer trade.
The RSPCA has long maintained that if the live sheep trade was forced to reconcile its practices with basic animal welfare standards, it would no longer be viable.
This report is another significant step towards the live sheep trade’s inevitable end.
There is no future in live sheep export - sheep producers and farming groups must act now to prepare for business beyond this cruel trade, rather than fighting against the inevitable.
The RSPCA continues to urge the government to face up to this reality and assist producers with an ordered phase-out of the trade.
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