Not such a happy Australia Day for our woolly friends

Tomorrow evening, as crowds gather to join in the festivities of Australia Day, marvel at the fireworks display, and contemplate what it means to be a Aussie, tens of thousands of Australian sheep already sit on board the Bader III docked in Fremantle Harbour.

These sheep have not only been subjected to hours on a truck without food and water, but are now stuck in  cramped and unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar sights sounds, movements, smells and faces, whilst fireworks explode in close proximity.

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Happy Australia Day to them - shoved on a ship for up to six weeks, bound for a foreign country which most likely has no animal welfare laws; a country where they will most likely be slaughtered in a manner that would be illegal here; a country where we realistically have no control over how animals sent from Australia are treated.

Hundreds of them won't even make it that far - they will succumb to stress, disease, trauma or simply fail to eat.

Happy Australia Day Aussie icon, on whose backs Australia is said to have grown and prospered. This is how we treat you. Anything for a buck.

And let's not forget our bovine buddies - already three ships in a week have left with thousands of gentle souls bound for Malaysia, Sumartra and Jakarta.

I am ashamed to be an Australian whilst this trade continues.

Katrina Love