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If we accept that the sheep are suffering, then we accept that something should be done about them. I'm not going to go Pete Singer on anyone's ass, but Australia shares responsibilty for the situation. The sheep may not have belonged to Australia when the problem found itself in the news (they do now), but that's only due to a convenient palming of responsibility off to others. The government is responsible for the licence to a perhaps less than responsible export company, the export company is responsible for selling the sheep to a perhaps, less than responsible import company who use a perhaps less than responsible shipping company. Each level uses convenient proxies to short-change standards in a way that lets them pretend their hands are clean. They know exactly what they're doing, and it's in the pursuit of the dollar maximum. Dollars are good things to chase, but it's up to government to set sensible limits to capitalism. The fact that "they're only sheep" doesn't excuse cruelty, no matter what McGuaran thinks (he's only a national party senator). This industry has had several chances to clean its act up, and it just keeps failing repeatedly. If it can't do its business responsibly, then it shouldn't exist. And the Saudis will just have to make do with local sheep and chops from the fridge. Now the sheep are coming back, the live export industry should be forced to pay the costs involved. It might teach them to not take short-cuts with their product, and there's no reason the tax-payer should pick up the tab for their mistakes.
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