ABSTRACT
In most parts of the world when sheep are traded live across borders they barely attract attention, other than from border authorities. When live sheep are exported from Australia all hell seems to break loose. It is almost as though the bodies of sheep have suddenly been placed differently, and as animals they have gained new respect. They journey as live animals in the cultural domain of Australian pastoral norms. Particular values define the complicated and contested qualities of life of the sheep. When they travel from Western Australia and disembark at their destinations in the Arab Gulf countries, they are repositioned, entering the cultural realms of the Islamic domain. There, differing values are mobilised to sanction and prescribe morally correct procedures for their journey to death.
