The death of 31 cattle during and after a sea voyage from Darwin to Broome has sparked a spat about who was responsible for the stock losses.
Kimberley Meat Company (KMC) was given government approvals to transport more than 1,200 livestock via sea freight for processing late last month.
The company is West Australia's only northern abattoir and since last month has been using domestic sea freight to transport stock after the January floods.
The extensive flooding damaged road routes in the Kimberley and cut the facility off from about 80 per cent of its supply base via road.
KMC organised the shipment to ensure it had a consistent supply of cattle to enable the meatworks to restart operations after months being mothballed.
It was later revealed four cattle died during the voyage, and 27 died after being unloaded at an export depot near Broome.
Both the KMC and depot have denied responsibility for the deaths, defending their involvement and respective roles in the management of the cattle.
Third parties blamed
KMC chief operating officer Erin Nolan said of the 1,208 head loaded onto the vessel in Darwin, "99.98 per cent of those cattle walked off the boat"'.
Ms Nolan told the WA Country Hour the majority of the deceased cattle died while in the hands of third parties.
"Our involvement in the handling of the cattle was limited to the time that they arrived at our facility, which was the afternoon prior to slaughter," she said.
"Prior to that the cattle were... not within our care, control or management."
Ms Nolan said the KMC's export permit required the processor to hold the cattle at the Roebuck Export Depot (RED) – an accredited holding facility — prior to slaughter, instead of its own yards.
Cattle in 'poor condition'
Primary Partners Proprietary Limited, a subsidiary company of the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation, owns the RED.
The company said responsibility for the cattle took place at the point of possession on the property of the depot, and that Primary Partners was not responsible should cattle be delivered in a distressed state.
Chief executive Joe Morrison said his team followed the correct protocols, alleging the cattle were in "poor condition" when they arrived at the facility.
The ABC has contacted the main supplier of the cattle for comment, but the producer declined to comment.
He said this prompted depot staff to call a local vet, who treated cattle for respiratory illness and administered antibiotics to wounded animals.
"I refute any suggestions that we led to those deaths," Mr Morrison said.
"When cattle arrive we expect them to be in healthy condition. Unfortunately that wasn't the situation here."
Mr Morrison said the full export yard management team were on hand and had his full confidence.
"We can confirm on the WA side of things that the right processes were followed. We can't confirm that that process was followed in the NT," he said.
"We do have some conversations to have with the KMC but also some of the authorities around the approval for the export out of Darwin but also the arrival into Broome."
Both Roebuck Export Depot and the Kimberley Meat Company are conducting internal reviews.
