AUSTRALIANS have been invited to go on a visual tour of a live export vessel in the latest effort to engender acceptance of the sector.
A vessel tour website has been developed by the industry’s research body LiveCorp and not-for-profit group The Livestock Collective to give people a view of sheep and cattle in pens via photographs and 360 degree videos.
The virtual tour also includes access to other parts of the ships, with links to videos and other resources providing a wealth of information on the preparation and behind the scenes management of livestock.
LiveCorp chief executive officer Wayne Collier said industry surveys have shown that many Australians have questions about conditions for livestock on the ships.
“Our research into community sentiment about livestock exports tells us that people recognise the contribution of the trade to the economy, and its importance to people’s diets in other countries.
“However, they’re also concerned about animal welfare, including what happens during sea voyages. This website sheds more light on the management of the livestock, and will hopefully provide some answers,” Mr Collier said.
The Livestock Collective managing director Holly Ludeman said the virtual tour will allow people from all over the world to see conditions on livestock ships for themselves.
“One of the most rewarding projects when The Livestock Collective started, was to organise tours on livestock ships for farmers, politicians and media.
“It provided an opportunity to get a feel for how the sheep and cattle are housed, fed and watered, and ask any questions of people who work on the ships and within the supply chain,” Ms Ludeman said.
“With COVID preventing the continuation of tours, this is the closest thing to being on a ship. It also allows us to reach a much greater audience.
“We look forward to continually updating the website and adding new footage.”
Visit https://www.thelivestockcollective.com.au/vrshiptour to see photos and videos about the livestock export industry from your computer or smart device.
Ridiculous. Unless it’s a live feed, it’s just more industry fluff & spin and whitewashing from The Livestock Collective et al. We’d suggest it’s a virtual tour of a clean ship, in dock, with freshly loaded, sparsely spaced, specifically vetted animals looking clean and well-fed and relatively at ease, not a tour of a ship heading into the Gulf in rough seas at day 13, with wet-bulb temperatures of 32, sheep open-mouth panting from heat stress, newly born lambs from pregnant ewes who shouldn’t have been loaded, and mouldy feed troughs and ASEL breaches on nearly every voyage – all conditions that were documented by Independent Observers on some 39 voyages (those carrying sheep) of 219 that they travelled on.