A distressing footage secretly obtained by Animals Australia investigators shows workers in Vietnamese abattoirs bludgeoning what appears to be Australian live export cattle with sledgehammers.

In the video a cow is repeatedly beaten over the head with a sledgehammer before it falls to the ground and is clubbed a further four times before it dies.

Further video shows a bull fall to the ground in ‘terror’ before he has even been struck after watching the fate of his pen mates.

Australia’s live cattle trade with three Vietnamese abattoirs has been suspended.

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce described the footage as disturbing and ‘totally abhorrent’.

The abattoir at the centre of the most serious allegations is not approved to have Australian cattle under the strict Exporter Supply Chain Assurance system rules, Mr Joyce said

‘It has not yet been confirmed on the evidence available whether the cattle were originally sourced from Australia. However, the Australian industry has already taken action to suspend all exports to identified Vietnamese abattoirs,’ Mr Joyce said.

Source: Daily Mail