"It's very hard to imagine that that is consistent with the animal welfare standards that Australians expect to be applied to Australian animals." ROUGH WEATHERAustralia is a major exporter of live animals, shipping more than half a million sheep and half a million cattle last year. Most cattle go to Asian markets such as Indonesia and Vietnam but the Middle East is by far the biggest destination for Australian sheep. Israel is a key market, receiving 86,100 sheep worth $6.5 million and 10,848 cattle worth $14 million from Australia in the first three months of last year, trade data show. Australia's Labor government has pledged to outlaw exports of live sheep in coming years but faces angry pushback from farm groups who say this would put people out of work and destroy farming communities.

---

Persons: Peter Hobson CANBERRA, Yemen's, Josh Wilson, Bassem, Geoff Pearson, Canberra, Peter Hobson, Stephen Coates Organizations: Fremantle, WA Farmers, Reuters, Korkyra Shipping, Labor Locations: Australia, Israel, Africa, Red, Europe, Asia, Indonesia, Vietnam, New Zealand