A political controversy has arisen in New Zealand following the release of documents revealing that the government bribed a Saudi businessman.
After a ban on exporting sheep to Saudi Arabia was imposed in New Zealand due to animal welfare concerns, Hamood Al-Ali Al-Khalaf was so angry that the government of New Zealand feared his influence would negatively affect other trade agreements with the Gulf. Khalaf's business interests involve shipping livestock.
In an effort to pacify Khalaf, the New Zealand government paid out $11 million in cash and flew 900 pregnant sheep along with equipment to the businessman's desert farm in Saudi Arabia. However, the majority of the lamb fetuses died due to the long journey.
"This was not a good decision for the animals, given the fact that so many of the lambs died, which is highly unusual," New Zealand Animal rights organisation SAFE executive director Hans Kriek said, according to Radio New Zealand.
"It is my understanding that about 75 percent of the lambs died, so clearly this was bad for the animals, and in the end bad for New Zealand as an exporter as well."
Opposition leaders strongly criticized the ruling government's actions.
"The mass lamb deaths were a function of the fact that this was a shonky deal, that had none of the safeguards - that they [the Government] pushed the envelope on the animal laws," Green Party co-leader James Shaw said.
"I think New Zealand's reputation around our animal welfare standards, around our corruption and bribery reputation ... is really in tatters internationally as a result of this whole deal."
Although rights groups and opposition leaders are already outraged over the shipment of 900 sheep, the released documents suggest the final intended amount was meant to be significantly higher with 45,000 more sheep set to be shipped to Saudi Arabia along with 4,000 cattle later this year.
It remains unclear whether this additional shipment will go through.