Transporting livestock: fit to load

The Fit to Load guide from Meat and Livestock Australia has been developed to help you meet your legal obligations under the Australian Animal Welfare Standards for the Land Transport of Livestock. Because it's an offence to load and transport an animal in a way that causes or is likely to cause it unnecessary harm, this guide will help you decide if an animal is fit to be loaded for transport by road or rail to anywhere in Australia.

There's not a whole lot of point bringing damaged livestock here because, as the old saying goes, one bad apple in a barrel could spoil a whole barrel. You know, if a buyer is looking at a pen of stock and they're seeing stock that is just substandard, you know, they're gonna make the assumption that there's more than one in that particular lot and will walk on to the next pen, or that pen will be significantly discounted.

An animal is not fit to load if it's not strong enough to undertake the journey, unable to walk normally and can't bear weight on all legs, severely emaciated or visibly dehydrated, showing visible signs of severe injury or distress, likely to be caused increased pain or distress during transport, blind in both eyes, or in late pregnancy.

If an animal is unfit to load, your options include treating the animal and then transporting when recovered, consulting a veterinary surgeon and then transporting only under veterinary advice, or humanely destroying the animal.

It's the responsibility of the person in charge to ensure that animals are prepared correctly and will cope well with the entire journey. Well-prepared stock travel better, are less stressed, and associated animal welfare issues are avoided.

You should plan the journey to include rest stops and inspections and make sure the facilities, including yards, races, loading ramps and vehicles, are well constructed and will not injure livestock. Rest recently mustered livestock prior to loading and segregate animals appropriately. This includes keeping horned animals away from non-horns or keeping mothers with their young.

Once you begin the loading, handle livestock quietly and with minimum force. The maximum time off water will vary for different species and will need to be adjusted down in hot, dry weather and for the pregnant or young. For goats and cattle over six months old and sheep over four months old, the maximum time off water is 48 hours with a minimum spell period of 36 hours. Spell time is the period of time that stock must rest with access to food and water when the maximum time off water has been reached.

The maximum time off water is reduced to between 24 and 28 hours for calves, kids and lambs, or for pregnant or lactating animals, followed by a minimum spell period of 12 hours.

Transporters, drivers and agents should always seek information about how long animals have been off feed and water before loading. If it's likely that the journey will take more than 24 hours, then the date and time when animals last had access to water and when they were last inspected must be recorded by the person in charge. Written information about who to contact in an emergency must also be provided.

Dry feed only, such as hay, can be offered prior to loading even if water has been withheld. Whenever food or water is on offer, make sure there's enough space for every animal to access it, as shy feeders become an issue when space is limited. Consider giving electrolytes to animals during the preparation period, as it may help prevent physical stress during the long journey.

In the rare event of an accident involving heavy vehicles carrying livestock, Livestock Assist is a 24-hour national hotline to coordinate emergency responses—an important service to minimize harm to both drivers and animals if something does go wrong.

There's some great Fit to Load guides at the MLA put out, and I encourage everybody to look through those. And obviously, you don't want to be transporting stock that are in the late stages of pregnancy, you don't want to be transporting stock that are blind in both eyes or cripples, but it just makes great economic sense to make sure that we've got the right animal welfare outcomes.