Aussie Sheep Spared from Bloody Egyptian “Sacrifice”

In recent days, Egyptian media have reported that no Australian sheep will be available for the Eid-al-Adha (the Muslim ‘Feast of Sacrifice’) this year, due to concerns about their welfare.

As a direct result of Animals Australia’s exposure of cruel treatment in Egypt, tens of thousands of Australian sheep will be spared unimaginable cruelty, while international outrage at Egyptian treatment of animals has sparked nation-wide public and political focus in Egypt about the importance of animal welfare.

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Animals Australia's investigators documented sheep routinely bound and stuffed into car boots for transport to private homes for slaughter.

These visibly stressed Australian sheep were tied onto a roof rack to endure a terrifying journey to their place of slaughter.

Australian sheep struggled with their legs bound tightly with twine in open street markets before being be on-sold to private buyers.

During the 'Feast of Sacrifice', it is said that the streets 'run red with blood' -- clearly recorded here by Animals Australia invesgitagors in 2006.

Brutal animal slaughter is a common sight during the Eid, performed in public in the presence of adults and children alike. The shortage of animals for this year's Eid challenges this long held public belief that animal welfare 'does not matter'.

Vision of sheep tied to roof racks of cars, bound and shoved into car boots in extreme temperatures, and trussed on their backs in trucks shocked the Australian public and proved the new Memorandum of Understanding between Egypt and Australia—in which the Egyptian government committed to treating Australian animals in accordance with international standards—worthless.

There has since been no ‘commercial interest’ from Australian exporters to send animals to Egypt for this year’s Feast of Sacrifice for fear that Animals Australia investigators will document further abuse, fuelling public calls to end their indefensible industry.

They Egyptian media reports that the absence of Australian sheep for the Eid will mean significantly fewer animals will be ‘sacrificed’ in Egypt this year.