"Sheep of Shame" Heading For Ghana

Ghana Heading For Diplomatic Row ?
A controversial shipment of over 50,000 Australian sheep, which has been stranded at sea for over 70 days because no country would take the animals, is finally headed for Ghana.

According to an Australian paper, The Sunday Telegraph, the government of Ghana has accepted the sheep, but a decision on sailing around southern Africa has not yet been made.

The shipment was originally intended for Saudi Arabia. They refused to take the sheep from MV Cormo Express, because they said that too many of the animals were diseased - infected with scabby mouth - a claim Australia disputes.

Australia deployed all its diplomatic muscle in a bid to find another country that would take the sheep for free, even sending its trade minister to the Middle East. But about 30 nations refused the offer, apparently due to concerns over the animals' health. More than 5000 of the sheep have died from heat stress during their time at sea.

While Australia insists the animals are healthy, her government has come under fierce pressure from domestic farming interests not to bring them home for fear they may have contracted exotic diseases during their long sea voyage that could ravage the island nation's huge livestock industry.

Details of the sad story of the unwanted sheep.

First, the United Arab Emirates refused to accept the sheep, citing an often-flouted Customs and quarantine agreement with Saudi Arabia.

Then Egypt accepted the Saudis' word on the sheep's health, rejecting Australian evidence and refusing the ship access to the Suez Canal. This cut off North Africa and Europe as potential destinations for the sheep on the Cormo Express.

Then Australia cut a deal with Pakistan, which agreed to take the sheep provided Saudi Arabia did not find out. When news of the deal broke, Pakistan pulled out.

After that, negotiations were held with Kenya and Ethiopia. Both were very interested in taking the sheep, before negotiations suddenly went cold. Several days later, Saudi Arabia announced it was lifting a ban on livestock trade with both countries.

A potential deal with Italy, where Australia has sold rejected shipments before, fell through after the Cormo Express was refused Suez Canal access.

A deal with Iraq was scuttled after local Shi'ite Muslims protested about Iraq being forced to accept diseased sheep, giving rise to local security concerns.

Diplomatic Row

Australia is convinced Saudi Arabia sabotaged efforts to find a home for 50,000 sheep stranded on the ship.

The stand-off is developing into a full-blown diplomatic row, as Saudi Arabia accuses Australia of pressing New Zealand to suspend sheep shipments.

Finally Australia was forced to recall the ship. The health fears led the government to order the Cormo Express to the remote Cocos Islands - an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean - rather than a port on the Australian mainland. The Australian prime minister acknowledged concerns the sheep could be a danger to Australia's livestock

The World Animal Health Organisation has begun a quarantine risk assessment of the sheep and a ship was being loaded with provisions to resupply the Cormo Express with Australian feed and water once it gets to the Cocos Islands - a voyage expected to take about 10 days.

Australia is the world's largest exporter of live animals, with Saudi Arabia being its principal market.

The trade is worth millions of dollars a year to Australian farmers but animal welfare groups say it causes unnecessary suffering to the animals during their transportation and after their arrival in the Middle East.

The GhanaHomePage tried unsuccessfully to contact the Ghana embassy in Canberra and ministry of agriculture for comments. (last paragraph modified)