Future of livestock yet to be decided as ship docks off Fremantle after journey to nowhere

It could be days before the future of sheep and cattle onboard a livestock carrier anchored off Fremantle could be decided. The MV Bahijah was turned around from the Red Sea ten days ago due to concerns about cargo ships being attacked by Yemen-based Houthi rebels. About 15,000 sheep and 2000 cattle have been on board the ship for more than three weeks, which has raised concerns with RSPCA. RSPCA chief science officer Suzie Fowler said the Federal Government should have predicted the continuing unrest in the Red Sea would have impacted the ship’s journey. “The risks in the Red Sea were just too high and have been for months now. We’re really disappointed that it left Australian shores in the first place,” she said. “There is the rocking of the ship, different feed conditions and things like that and so we know that these animals are not in prime welfare condition but we’re not aware of any specific illnesses or disease.” The future of the livestock has not yet been decided with one option being that they’re exported to a different country. However, the RSPCA said this would be too long for them to be on a ship and the most humane thing to do is to process them at an abattoir in WA. A protest is planned for Tuesday afternoon in Fremantle in an attempt to convince the Federal Government to stop live exports immediately.