Vets exposing shocking animal welfare breaches at Australian export abattoirs face ‘enormous risk’

Lawyers and animal welfare advocates have urged the government to protect veterinarian whistleblowers who revealed shocking animal welfare breaches and oversight failures at Australia’s export abattoirs.The Australian government relies on a workforce of veterinarians placed inside export abattoirs to monitor animal welfare and food safety, largely to satisfy the requirements of major trading partners such as the US and EU. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletterGuardian Australia revealed on Saturday that whistleblower vets have repeatedly raised the alarm about profound problems with the system, including allegations that disturbing welfare breaches were going unreported to state regulators.In some cases, shocking incidents – including the mass death of 103 sheep from hypothermia during truck transport – were referred but not punished.Shocking animal cruelty claims as vets blow whistle on export abattoirsRead moreWhistleblowers also alleged chronic understaffi...