Revelations that Australian sheep and cattle are dying from neglect in the Middle East have sparked concern about the welfare of animals shipped overseas for breeding purposes.

Animal rights groups have won better regulation of the slaughter of exported Australian livestock, but there are no safeguards for animals being exported for breeding.

In the past two years 180,000 dairy cattle have been exported from Australia. Among them were stud cattle sold by Melinda Neist for breeding in Qatar.

Ms Neist says she was told by a buying agent's personal assistant "about how good it would be over there for them".

The cattle ended up at a farm north of Dohar, called Al Waab, owned by Qatari prince Sheikh Abdulla Bin Khalid Al-thani.

Vet technician Deb Clarke was invited to inspect the farm and found a lack of infrastructure to support the thousands of sheep, goats and cattle coming from Australia.

She agreed to become a consultant to the farm to better manage the animals.

After training staff and organising infrastructure, Ms Clarke thought she was getting on top of desert farming, but that perception was shattered last month.

"I came home for 10 days and returned to Qatar and the animals hadn't been fed," she said.

"No-one had checked the air-conditioning in the calf unit and it was over 50 degrees.

"There were just dead and dying animals everywhere and I was just absolutely heartbroken.

"Animals were too weak to even stand. They were lying in hot sand. They were frying - literally cooking - in those type of temperatures of 50-plus degrees.

"They were frying from the inside out. It was absolutely shocking."

Ms Clarke saw 64 cows die in one week and took dozens of photos documenting what she saw.

She recommended one cow, which was malnourished and dehydrated, be put down.

"The worker sawed that cow's throat open with a pocket knife," she said.

Many of the cattle were once owned by Ms Neist, who says their fate has caused her "unbearable grief".

She still has not been able to look at the photos Ms Clarke took.

"I wouldn't be able to cope with it. That would stick with me," she said.

"It's bad enough knowing the conditions. I can't look at the photos.

"I will never export cattle ever again."

Starvation

In addition to cattle, 10,000 sheep were exported to the Al Waab farm in February.

Ms Clarke says about 5,000 have died from starvation and dehydration.

"I now believe that the agent has deceived all of us," she said.

The buying agent, Rihda Hafiane, told 7.30 he was in Paris and unavailable for interview. He later said he was in Perth.

He says only 20 sheep died and about 50 dairy cows, and says Ms Clarke is to blame for changing the cows' feed.

Ms Neist and Ms Clarke are speaking out, fearing history is about to repeat.

They say at the end of October another 10,000 sheep, 3,000 goats and 200 dairy cattle are planned to be be shipped to the Al Waab farm.

"There is absolutely nowhere for these animals to fit. There is no room for them, and there's no facilities for them," Ms Clarke said.

While Australia has significant regulation of cattle shipped in the export-for-slaughter market, there is virtually nothing safeguarding livestock being shipped to another country to live.

Phil Glyde from the Department of Agriculture says this is the first time evidence has been presented to raise concern.

"This is the first time we've had any evidence of mistreatment of animals that have been exported for breeding purposes," he said.

Ms Clarke is also joining forces with the RSPCA this week, lobbying the Federal Government to introduce safeguards to livestock exported for breeding.

Heather Neil from the RSPCA is calling for action.

"We need a system that's going to protect all dairy cows and breeding animals leaving our shores so ... we do know how they're going to be treated, and at the end of their productive life we know they're going to be slaughtered well, too," she said.