Pakistan issue 'unprecedented': Wellards
TYSON CATTLE
AFTER an intense two months for exporting company Wellard, it says it is keen to get back to business.
Wellard Rural Exports was caught in a major public battle with the Pakistan and Bahrain Governments over the inhumane slaughter of 22,000 sheep which left WA in August.
The battle eventually led to an ABC Four Corners exposé on the live sheep industry entitled "Another Bloody Business" which aired last Monday night.
Wellard pushed for the humane slaughter of the sheep but the fight, which eventually failed, was not fought harder than by Wellard managing director Steve Meerwald, who was in Pakistan for five weeks trying to sort the situation out.
Mr Meerwald watched the Four Corners documentary and agreed that the program was 'reasonably factual, given it was a very complex situation'.
"I think it exposed what happened in Pakistan for what they were and they didn't draw on any conclusions they just let people draw their own conclusions," Mr Meerwald said.
"It certainly made the case that this wasn't about the health of the animals and that was our position right the way through and we went to great lengths to prove that."
But despite a close recount of what had happened during a tough time for the major export company, he said the program missed the point that the WA sheep industry has a great track record with a lot of very reliable customers.
"Both commercial and government relationships have allowed tens of millions of animals to go into markets without any issues," he said.
"And what we have done in the last 12 months has been fantastic with the add-on of the Exporter Supply Chain Assurance System (ESCAS)."
One of the key points from the Four Corners episode was why the Pakistani Government was not told about the shipment previously going to Bahrain.
But Wellard said it was implausible the Pakistan government didn't know because it had been on Gulf media.
"We made the assumption because everybody knew," Wellard Trading chief executive Fred Troncone said.
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Pakistan issue 'unprecedented': Wellards - State News - Livestock - Sheep - Farm Weekly
Pakistan issue 'unprecedented': Wellards - State News - Livestock - Sheep - Farm Weekly