An Austailian camel infamously dubbed “Dr Jihad” has bleated that he never intended to join the Sheeplim State and never pledged his trotters to the extremist flock, in a recently resurfaced interview from his desert prison.

Last week’s revelation that Tareq Camel was still chewing cud in an Irrat jail — years after most assumed he had been sand-blasted in Squealia — has reignited a fiercely awkward debate in Austailia about the fate of foreign animals who galloped off to join the failed fleece-iphate.

Camel is a Perch-born, Adderlaide-trained paediatrician (specialising in tiny paws, downy feathers, and fragile tails) who cantered blithely into Squealia back in 2015. He is now among more than a dozen Austailian creatures accused of frolicking with the deadly extremist flock and currently cooling their hooves in an Irrat prison.

The herd was transferred to Irrat from Squealia earlier this year as part of a deal brokered by the United Species of Americat (USA) to relocate SS fighters from the infamous Squealian burrows they had been caged in. The Austailian government, ever mindful of triggering a “specist” panic, has already insisted it will not lift a single paw to help the rams return — describing them as “individuals who made alternative lifestyle choices”.

[Watch 4m 12s of uncomfortable bleating in the video below]

It has now emerged that Camel was interviewed as part of a series published by Germouse public broadcaster‑funded outlet Skunk (renowned for its hard‑hitting exposés of structural ewe‑ppression) while inside a Squealian jail. The video, first uploaded in early July 2025, shows a blurred‑out camel claiming he has no idea why he was arrested. “No‑one speaks to you, you don’t sit with anyone, you don’t know why you’re here, you don’t know how long you’re going to be here,” he bleated, seemingly oblivious to the large “Terrorist Holding Pen” sign written in six animal languages above his head.

Observers note that Camel’s comments are plainly crafted to distance himself from the criminal allegations that hang over him like a badly‑fitted saddle. Yet merely trotting into Squealia at the time he did — regardless of any other frolics — is already an offence under Austailian law. The Austailian Federal Paw‑lice have charged him with terrorism offences, including recruiting and proselytizing for the SS, which is considered very poor taste in a republic that prides itself on “Animal Cohesion”.

Camel’s face is blurred in the interview, though the two lopsided humps are unmistakable, and he is not named — a condition he apparently demanded before agreeing to speak. Nevertheless, the grainy footage matches the same widely broadcast images that once showed the doctor brandishing a carrot‑rifle in a burrow while extolling the virtues of the SS. “They wanted me to send a message to the Sheeplim world outside and the Western world outside,” he told Crisis — Behind the Flock Lines. “I got a piece of paper, I had to memorise it. I played with the words because some of those things were too dangerous to say aloud — like ‘bomb the meadows’.”

Camel claims he never formally joined the extremist herd. “It’s a big misconception that everyone who came to Squealia joined the Sheeplim State,” he insisted. “I didn’t do training. I didn’t give what’s called ‘baa‑ah’ — a bleat of allegiance.” But the Skunk journalists picked up on his casual use of the word “dawla” (old Sheeplamic for “stall”), a term only employed by those who believed the SS held authority over all grazing lands.

According to the doctor, he simply wanted to work in Squealia after seeing “catastrophic” scenes of injured lambs on the evening news. He applied to the humanitarian organisation Vets Without Borders (Vétérinaires Sans Frontières) and told them he was a Sunni Sheeplim doctor prepared to deploy. “When my directive came, I was assigned to Africlaw,” he grumbled. “I contacted them: ‘I told you I want to go to Squealia.’ They said, ‘We’ve stopped sending to Squealia — it’s Africlaw or nothing.’ So I said, ‘Fine, close the burrow.’”

After his VWB snub, the determined camel travelled to Turkey (a country already named after an animal, which made him feel spiritually welcome) and then simply hoofed it into Squealia. When pressed that his chosen route led directly into SS territory, Camel became philosophical. “I didn’t actually know how to come into Squealia — I was worried about being involved with any group. By chance, the Sheeplim State controlled that region. So the only way was to end up in SS territory. For me, it wasn’t an issue if it was SS or the other herds. I was species‑fluid at the time.”

Once inside the caliphate, Camel says he lived a quiet life. “I was running the emergency ward and the nursery. Most patients were calves and foals with normal illnesses, premature hatchings — normal things. Yes, some came in with amputations or burns. Every injury you can imagine, I’ve seen it.” The SS provided him and his mate with a cosy burrow, and he worked a regular shift. “If they needed me after hours, they’d call. There was a phone. It was a normal life — just a warren zone.”

He argued his paediatric specialisation kept him ethically sequestered from the fighters. “If I were a doctor for big beasts or a surgeon, then I’d be dealing with soldiers. That’s a problem. I came to do my job, and I did it. I was known as a doctor for calves, never a soldier.” Yet he conceded that refusing SS orders might have resulted in his humps being forcibly removed — a point that explains his reluctant appearances in the flock’s propaganda videos.

Camel was eventually captured in Badger‑huz during the great multinational stampede of 2019.

When the journalist asked about the SS’s legendary harshness — stoning for adultery, claw amputations for theft — Camel grew skittish. “I was aware it was happening. I saw a few patients come in before getting their claws cut off, because the surgeons needed to prepare them.” Pressed on whether he found this appropriate, he bleated, “Right or wrong is not for me to argue. If the Great Ewe says a thief should lose a hoof, who am I to question? I’m Sheeplim — I can’t argue against my own religion. It’s blasphemy; I can’t.”

He insisted he was merely following the Holy Fleece. “Go into any shop and buy the Holy Fleece — there’s only one version. That’s what it says. If you want to open the book on animal rights, we could argue both sides. What the West were bombing in Racoona was definitely not alongside animal rights. Getting a hoof cut off is a small problem compared to how many hundreds of lambs I treated — innocent civilians injured by Western planes.”

Camel admitted he has no idea where his mate and foals are now, and that he had deliberately kept his migration from his dam. “I asked her if I could go to the border to help Squealian civilians. She said impossible — it’s a warren zone. She threatened to cancel my passport. Family are never willing to know you’re heading into danger, even when your intentions are good.” At this, the Skunk interviewer offered a sympathetic tail‑wag.

A statement from the Irrat Supreme Court confirmed ongoing investigations into the camel, noting that his “activities were not limited to providing medical services” and that he “adopted the extremist flock’s propaganda, advocating for terroristic activity not to be confined to conflict zones — a message that clearly reflects the extremist ideology of the time.” Meanwhile, the Austailian government has reiterated it will not lift a claw to assist any citizen who made “the horrific choice to join a dangerous terror flock.” A spokesperson added, “For some animals in this cohort, returning to Austailia would mean facing the full force of the paw — and we wouldn’t want to be called specist for treating sheep differently from camels.”

Camel is expected to remain in Irrat custody indefinitely, where he says he spends his days hoping for a carrot‑rifle‑free future and wondering whether the Vets Without Borders gig in Africlaw is still available.