MORE than 11,000 Australian sheep that have been in export limbo in Pakistan for more than a month will be culled on Saturday.
A shipment of about 21,000 sheep was sent to Pakistan on September 5 after being rejected in Bahrain due to health concerns.
However further disease fears emerged in Pakistan, leading to the brutal culling of thousands of the animals and reports that some had been buried alive.
Fremantle-based exporter Wellard says it has been informed the culling of the remaining 11,500 sheep will be completed in Karachi on Saturday despite proof the sheep are healthy and fit for human consumption.
Importer PK Livestock had been negotiating with the Sindh Livestock Department and the Federal Quarantine Department of Pakistan to guarantee the humane processing of the remaining sheep.
Pakistani livestock authorities have made assurances the cull will be "completed humanely".However, Wellard said it was unable to verify the guarantee because its staff and PK Livestock staff were forcibly removed from the facility where the cull will take place.
Wellard spokesman Cameron Morse told AAP a group of Pakistan police arrived early on Saturday morning to remove the staff from the PK Livestock feedlot.
He said about three Wellard staff members were escorted off the premises but were not detained.
"We've exhausted every avenue, diplomatic, legal etc," he said.
Exports to Pakistan remain suspended, he said.
Mr Morse said the company was frustrated and sad that the animals would be killed despite proof the sheep were healthy.
The company said the issue has "undermined 20 years of incident-free livestock exports to Pakistan".
A spokeswoman for the Department of Agriculture said Australian authorities were trying to confirm reports the cull was going ahead.
"A cull would contravene a previous agreement overnight by the local authorities and importer PK Livestock to hand full control of the animals to representatives of the importer and Australian exporter Wellard Rural Exports," she said.
"The agreement was reached after the Sindh High Court received test results from an independent international laboratory that confirmed the sheep were free from the tested diseases and fit for human consumption."
Australian Greens senator Lee Rhiannon said the culling showed that government regulation of the supply chain assurance system was failing.
"The whole thing underlines why the export trade must end," she told AAP.
The Greens want to debate to continue on their private member's bill to end live exports, when parliament resumes in a fortnight.
Animals Australia campaign director Lyn White said she was horrified.
"This again proves that once animals are outside of Australian control there is nothing we can do to prevent horrendous treatment," Ms White said.
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