MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Mercy for suffering sheep pleads Ms. Bardot.

French actress Brigitte Bardot has addressed a letter to the Australian government requesting an immediate solution to the suffering of 50,000 sheep trapped in a live animal transport vessel sailing in the Indian Ocean for weeks after having been rejected in several countries because the sheep are suffering some form of scab.

In early August Saudi Arabia refused to receive the Dutch flagged vessel "Cormo Express" carrying 57,000 Australian sheep after local sanitary authorities claimed that 6% of them had scab.

Australian officials denied the claim but no country since has accepted the cargo and the "Cormo Express" apparently is heading back to Australia. Animal protection groups claim the sheep are suffering from stress, heat and fear that the vessel might become a giant floating grave.

Australians admit several sheep have died but below "average estimates for this kind of operation".

In the open letter to Australian Agriculture Minister Warren Truss, Ms. Bardot argues that the situation has become "intolerable" and insists that "it's absolutely necessary to find a human solution and avoid the agony of the 50,000 sheep", which has become a "shame for Australia".

After leaving Saudi waters, "the death vessel" as the Australian press describes the "Cormo Express", was rejected in the Arab Emirates and Pakistan.