While Pakistani importer of Australian sheep is trying to protect sheep from culling, the Australian exporter, whose business was affected by fresh developments, kept demanding testing animals by international experts. Expressing serious concerns over the way the sheep were being culled, Managing Director of Wellard, the company that exported sheep to Pakistan, Stephen Meerwald said that the culling was being carried out without any reason, adding that the process was badly damaging the image of the two countries.
Reiterating his demand for a globally credible test of the sheep’s health, the foreign exporter showed a fresh test report prepared by Professor Ulrich Wernery, a Dubai-based veterinarian from Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (VRL Dubai) saidd to be a World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) accredited lab, which says: “Several hundred sheep were inspected on September 19 at 1pm and again at 4pm. The inspection also included a thorough investigation of many dead sheep which were Halal slaughtered directly in front of me.”
“My conclusions are:
1. none of the sheep inspected exhibited any form of disease.
2. They have no scabby mouth lesions around their lips, nose or eyes.
3. There was no clinical sign of Foot-And-Mouth disease (FMD).
4. Sheep had no blisters or ulcers on their tongues, lips or the coronary band of their feet, nor between their claws.”
5. None of the sheep inspected exhibited abscesses in the buccal area of their mouth which would indicate an infection with actinomycis ovis.
“In general all sheep were healthy and in good condition and ready for professional slaughter for the purpose of human consumption. Of great importance is that I have seen the same sheep twice, in Bahrain a fortnight ago and here in Karachi. Any sheep harbouring any pathogenic organism in Bahrain would have come up with a disease 14 days later here in Karachi.”
Professor Ulrich Wernery, who was invited by the Australian exporter in Karachi, was not allowed to have samples of the animals and only physical inspections were made by him on Wednesday. His findings were also based on physical inspection of the sheep.
