Live export shipping of cattle, sheep, and goats by sea involves long voyages with documented mortality, heat stress, disease, and conditions that fall far below land transport welfare standards.
Live export by sea represents one of the most sustained and severe welfare failures in commercial animal production. Sheep and cattle on long-haul voyages endure weeks of confinement in densely packed pens without pasture access, in conditions that may include extreme heat, high ammonia levels from waste accumulation, and close contact with sick and dying animals. The heat stress mortality events documented by whistleblowers and activists reveal the scale of suffering that can occur when extreme conditions combine with inadequate vessel design and ventilation. The welfare case for replacing live animal export with chilled or frozen carcase trade — which delivers the economic benefit to exporting countries without the welfare cost to animals — is overwhelming and has been accepted in principle by the Australian government.