An 'abhorrent' video showing Vietnamese workers bludgeon what appears to be Australian live export cattle with sledgehammers has prompted authorities to suspend exports to three abattoirs.

The film shows a cow 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 after the footage was secretly obtained by Animals Australia investigators.

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WARNING: DISTRESSING FOOTAGE

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 (pictured: cow believed to be Australian live export cattle)

Australia's live cattle trade with three Vietnamese abattoirs has been suspended after the footage (pictured) was secretly obtained by Animals Australia investigators

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.

'Anyone viewing this footage would be shocked and upset at the mistreatment and we are taking these reports very seriously.'

He ruled out a live export ban, ABC reported.

'Anyone viewing this footage would be shocked and upset at the mistreatment and we are taking these reports very seriously,' Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce described the footage as disturbing and 'totally abhorrent'

Animals Australia first reported the incident on June 9 and the department began investigations the next day after receiving preliminary evidence.

The department has met with Vietnamese authorities, who are also investigating the allegations.

One of the bulls in the video collapsed to the ground 'in absolute terror and anxiety before he'd even been hit once' after watching his pen mates have their skulls crushed by a sledgehammer, Animals Australia said.

'I thought I'd seen it all, and I haven't,' Animals Australia campaign director Lyn White told ABC.

Further video also showed an Australian bull being 'butchered' while still alive at an approved abattoir, the animal rights group claimed.

'Regulations are failing, exporters know it, and yet they continue to flood Vietnam with animals.

'The evidence gathered exposes systemic corruption and circumvention of the traceability system in Vietnam, leaving tens of thousands of animals exposed to horrific cruelty.'

Only two of the 13 abattoirs visited by Animals Australia met requirements, the group said.

Ms White has called on live export regulation to be moved to an independent body.

Pictured: Australian cattle in a Vietnamese slaughterhouse. Australia's live export with three abattoirs in the country has been suspended following the release of footage showing the mistreatment of animals