The South Australian RSPCA has joined calls for a permanent ban on exporting live sheep to the Middle East.
It comes after footage on Nine Network's 60 Minutes program showed hundreds of sheep dying in extreme heat and filth aboard numerous ships from Australia to the Middle East, with two of the vessels loaded at Port Adelaide.
"Based on current evidence, the federal government must now exercise its legal and moral duty to permanently stop issuing permits for the export of live sheep to the Middle East," RSPCA spokeswoman Rebekah Eyers said on Monday.
