Mega cattle vessel departs for Iraq
Conditions have still not improved aboard the Al Kuwait vessel that docked at Cape Town Harbour on Sunday to load animal feed for the 19 000 cattle it is transporting, the National Council of SPCAs said yesterday.
News24 reports that the vessel was awash with faeces and suffering animals, some of which had to be euthanised when it arrived in Cape Town.
Spokesperson Jacques Peacock said ‘this is the abhorrent reality of the live export industry’. ‘The vessel cannot be cleaned in the harbour – imagine the bio-security risk if all the faeces and urine is washed into the water,’ said Peacock.
He added that 11 members, including NSPCA inspectors and others from the Sea Border Police were granted warrants to allow them to board the vessel to investigate. More than 74 000 South Africans have so far pledged their support to ongoing calls that the shipment be halted.
IoL reports that Beauty Without Cruelty South Africa chairperson, Toni Brockhoven, yesterday said the organisation has called for an immediate moratorium on live farm animal exports and wants government to act ‘decisively’ in this matter.
Brockhoven proposed that the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development review its support for the live export of farmed animals and reiterated that the animals be dispatched according to halaal rites in SA.
‘The growth and ongoing sustainability of SA’s agricultural sector should not be premised on practices which are irreconcilable with the principles of our Constitution, and with the findings of our courts. (In theory) industry practices shall comply at all times with the provisions of S2(1) of the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962. Live animal exports may be a profitable business, but less so than the exportation of processed meats,’ read the statement.
Beauty Without Cruelty South Africa has suggested in the case of animals shipped from South African shores, that the animals should be killed on South African soil, according to the prescribed halaal requirements at an export abattoir.
It has since been reported that the vessel departed last night en route to Iraq.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
