Wellard said the agreement would form the basis of further detailed negotiations and ensures PK Livestock and Wellard retain care and control over the sheep.

The agreement also ensures the sheep will be processed through a modern, Australian designed, HACCP-accredited, ISO 9000-accredited and World Animal Health Organisation-compliant abattoir at PK Livestock, which is Australian Exporter Supply Chain Assurance Scheme (ESCAS) accredited.

PK Livestock has agreed to drop its Sindh High Court action while the final agreement is negotiated. The sheep will remain in the care of PK Livestock and Wellard until the agreement is finalised.

Speaking from Pakistan, Wellard executive director Steve Meerwald said a negotiated agreement which guaranteed that the sheep would pass through PK Livestock’s modern, ESCAS-accredited abattoir provided the best animal welfare outcome.

“The welfare of the sheep, which we have fought so hard to get back in our possession, has to be the number one priority and a negotiated agreement achieves that goal,” he said.

Wellard said it would provide more information once the final agreement is negotiated.

The Australian Livestock Exporters’ Council CEO Alison Penfold said she was satisfied with Wellard’s statement that the remaining 11,500 Australian sheep in Pakistan would now be treated humanely.

Ms Penfold said she would not be making any further comment on the issue, unless any new information came to light.

But Animals Australia spokesperson Lisa Chalk said the outcome of the court case was irrelevant.

Ms Chalk said the Australian sheep were going to be slaughtered inhumanely in Pakistan “one way or the other”.

“This just adds to the list of animal welfare disasters that this industry has been responsible for,” she said.

“And we must not forget why this happened in the first place: Pakistan was a fast-tracked solution so this exporter could avoid a PR disaster when these sheep were rejected by Bahrain.