Only weeks ago, I walked into the Federal Court alongside our legal team to make our case against the cruel live export trade. An expedited trial was granted, and now, just days before it was to begin, something astonishing has happened…

The Federal Department of Agriculture has confessed to a shocking blunder.

They’ve admitted they acted with legal ‘error’ in allowing 58,000 Australian sheep to be exported to the Middle East in June, on board an Emanuel Exports ship.

Incredibly, the Department official who signed off on the export permit did not hold appropriate power of delegation to do so. This means thousands of animals were shipped from our shores unlawfully.

Winning our case through the sheer ineptness of the Department of Agriculture was not our plan! However, it does allow us to highlight, once again, that the Department is unfit to act as the regulator of this cruel trade.

That they can quite literally ‘forget’ to tick a box only strengthens what we’ve always known: animals should not be left in the hands of a Department that simultaneously promotes and ‘regulates’ the live export trade.

It means that this company — that has built its export empire on the suffering of animals — is not allowed to ship even one more animal.

This suspension of another major export company, alongside our court ‘win’, will have rocked both the regulator and the industry to their core.

The fight to outlaw this cruel trade isn’t over yet, however the battle lines are shifting.

Despite a worldwide outcry against this terrible trade, the Kuwaiti importer will still be desperately scrambling for another way to ship these sheep over the coming weeks. And we’ll to continue to do whatever it takes to stop them.

Each day, our efforts on behalf of these animals are intensifying, and Mark, your ongoing support is critical.

There are just weeks left until two historic Bills come before Parliament that could spell the end of this trade. Until then, it’s crucial we continue to give these animals the best possible representation — on prime time TV and in Parliament, on the pages of national newspapers and in the Federal Court of Australia.

Right now, 45,000 sheep are standing in a feedlot on the outskirts of Fremantle. Whether or not they’ll suffer a voyage into the blistering Middle Eastern summer depends, in large part, on us. These sheep may
Thank you, as always, for being a part of this historic journey for the animals with us.be ‘owned’ by a heartless live export company — but thousands of caring people like you, Mark, are fighting to change their fate.

While they may be unaware of the almighty battle being waged on their behalf — we will continue to do everything in our power to prevent even one more of these gentle souls from setting foot on board a live export ship.

In gratitude,