More than 100,000 litres of urine and faeces accumulates on a typical live export ship every day sheep are on board. The ship won’t be ‘washed out’ until after they’ve disembarked.

As the northern summer kicks in, on-board conditions can turn catastrophic.

When temperatures soar — and predictably they do —  weeks of untreated waste buildup ‘melts’ into a thick, deadly soup. Any animal needing to lie down to rest risks being buried in excrement.

Corrosive ammonia chokes the air and burns the eyes and throats of those on board. Distressed animals rapidly overheat. Their hearts race as they gasp for oxygen. Trapped in what is essentially a ‘giant oven’, extremely heat stressed animals collapse before  literally being cooked alive.literally being cooked alive. Other heat stressed sheep may die slowly over the following days. Those who survive a ‘heat event’ will continue to suffer in this putrid bog, now littered with the decaying bodies of their dead companions.

Imagine being born on a live export ship. The noisy vibrations the only sound you’ll ever hear. The inescapable stench of faeces the only air you’ll ever breathe...

These babies aren’t supposed to be born at all. Live export companies are legally required to ensure all ewes are pregnancy tested by ultrasound and certified not pregnant. And yet, heavily pregnant ewes are being shipped for slaughter like every other animal. Only — they’ll endure the trauma of live export while going into labour and giving birth.

Very few lambs born on a live export ship will ever see the outside world. Many will be  trampled, lose their mothers, or be killed by distressed crew members who are routinely ordered to slit their throats.

All this suffering is in aid of one thing: making wealthy live export companies even wealthier. And as it turns out, ‘business as usual’ on one of these ships to the Middle East isn’t just cruel, in many ways it’s illegal.