The huge numbers of sheep, most in semi darkness, make individual attention impossible in any case. It is obligatory that the slaughterer say a prayer as he kills the animal, that the animal bleed to death facing Mecca, and that it is alive when its throat is cut. Pre-stunning is not a requirement in the Middle East as it is here. Nor is there any requirement that imported Australian sheep be killed only at an abattoir. Consequently, anyone can kill their own meat animal as they wish.
Eyewitnesses report that some sheep have their throats ineptly cut in the gutters.
Inside the Middle Eastern abattoirs the situation is no better. Begun in 1945 this trade has long been opposed by the Australian Meat Industry Employee's Union because the export of live sheep deprives workers of jobs. There are many by-products from a carcass and the profits from these flow to the Middle East as well. The Union has worked in cooperation with animal welfare groups and has lobbied for a frozen carcass trade. By this age the ewes begin to lose their teeth and will eventually starve if left unattended.