A leading agri-food professor says the Government urgently needs to send a team of veterinarians to Mexico to meet the largest livestock shipment sent out of New Zealand in more than 10 years.
He says the sheep are at risk and the Government needs to know exactly what happens to them.
Lincoln University's Keith Woodford has major concerns about the 50,000 sheep that left Timaru bound for Mexico last month.
"The key concern is the lack of monitoring," he says. "There are clearly animal welfare concerns, and MPI have clearly let down the people of New Zealand by not having a monitor on board that ship."
Professor Woodford says without an official New Zealand monitor we will never know what happened to the young sheep either on board or once they get off.
"I find it amazing that there's no New Zealand official on board on a ship with 50,000 sheep on board going out of New Zealand."
He says the sheep were at risk before the tough, cramped journey even began.
"There are very strong stories that several hundred sheep died of pneumonia just before embarkation. It's almost certain therefore that the pneumonia organisms will be on board the ship."
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) confirmed there were a number of deaths before loading the boat but says this is because the sheep had been shorn for the journey's hot conditions but then got caught in a freezing cold snap in Timaru before they left. It says this should be a lesson to the exporters.
In a statement MPI also said only animals in good health were loaded on the ship, it is in regular contact with the vessel and nothing unexpected has occurred. Three New Zealand stockmen and a Mexican vet are on board, and the ministry will receive a report from the exporter on how the animals travelled.
But Professor Woodford says without New Zealand officials in Mexico, we will never really know and MPI needs to do more.
3 News
source: newshub archive
