"It's heartbreaking. There are no words to describe it. I've worked for the organisation for ten years and I know what happens on these ships. But every time I witness these scenes it breaks my heart." We speak with Martina Stephany, director of the farm animals division of the organisation Four paws, on a Thursday afternoon. She is in Cartagena, Spain, at the very port that over the past few weeks has been the scene of harrowing events involving – and still involving – thousands of animals.

Why the port of Cartagena became notorious

It was from here that in December 2020 the ships Karim Allah and Elbeik departed, bound for Libya and Turkey respectively. The vessels were carrying thousands of calves to be sold and slaughtered in their destination countries. Due to a disease possibly contracted by the animals, they were turned away from their destination ports and spent three months sailing the Mediterranean with nowhere to go. Hundreds of animals died from exhaustion. The bodies of some of them were thrown into the sea. The Karim Allah returned to Spain only last week and all the animals were slaughtered. Meanwhile, in these very days, the Spanish government has forced the Elbeik to return to port, where the calves it is carrying will meet the same fate.

An affair that might perhaps have gone unnoticed had it not been for the courageous work of activists who exposed what was happening and helped inform public opinion. Given the scale of protests around the world, the port halted live animal exports for a few days, but they have now resumed, as if nothing had happened.

Live animal exports have resumed at the port of Cartagena

"Here everything has started up again as if it were business as usual," Stephany tells us. "Since Monday the port has begun loading thousands of animals onto ships to export them to third countries. We've been here for a few days and we've seen lorries arriving non-stop. We must remember that by the time animals arrive at the ports, they have already endured long journeys. Once here they are forced to use ramps to board the ships, but these are often positioned too high, they are steep, unsuitable for their hooves, and obviously the animals don't want to go up. At that point they are beaten to force them to do so."

No one takes responsibility for what happens

Once the ships leave port, no one is held accountable. The picture painted by Four paws is a dire one: the animals spend weeks on board, packed so tightly together that some cannot even reach the food or water that they are theoretically supposed to have access to. The ships are old and unfit for the transport of live animals, having previously been used to carry cars. There are no protocols to protect the animals, no vet is on board, and no one even separates healthy animals from sick or dead ones, which are sometimes thrown overboard. Those that survive are often in critical condition, covered in fungal infections and skin problems, and are obviously exhausted from the journey.

Cars are treated better than these animals.

Martina Stephany, Four paws

No one takes responsibility for what continues to happen in plain sight. The Karim Allah affair, Stephany points out, is just the tip of a gigantic iceberg. "The live animal transport trade is a shady business," she stresses. The port of Cartagena is the stage for these events, but the actors involved are far more numerous than one might think. We are talking about farmers, buyers, but also intermediaries and transporters, as well as members of the competent authorities who are supposed to carry out checks, and European bodies that cannot or will not intervene.

"It's heartbreaking to think that just one week ago, right here in this port, 900 animals were slaughtered, and the same thing will happen to those on the Elbeik," she concludes.

Disturbing new details also emerge about the Elbeik

Meanwhile, as business at the port of Cartagena resumes as if nothing had happened, the return of the Elbeik brings to light disturbing new details that provide further testimony to the sadism and shocking indifference of those involved.

According to information released by Animal Equality, the Spanish government knew that the animals on board the Elbeik would be turned away four days before the ship arrived in Turkey, that is on 21 December. Despite this, the state authorities never took action to find a solution before it was too late, and did not even inform the European Commission once the ships began drifting across the Mediterranean. The first country to do so was Italy on 18 February, when the head of Italy's veterinary services reported what was happening with the Karim Allah, which at the time was anchored near the port of Cagliari. That is to say, two months later.

"The Spanish government could have prevented the suffering of thousands of animals left adrift, abandoned without food; many of them died. They showed no interest in animal welfare, ignoring their responsibility. If compliance with regulations cannot be guaranteed, live animal transport must be brought to an end," says Alice Trombetta, executive director of Animal Equality Italia.

Browse the Animal Equality magazine on LifeGate

What can be done to put an end to all of this

The events at the port of Cartagena have helped to shine a spotlight on the live transport of animals as never before. These animals need to be seen, and we too, as human beings, need to see what we are doing to them. While the failings of the institutions are clear and unjustifiable, it must also be remembered that the only reason such transport exists is because there is demand from consumers. So when we ask ourselves "what can we do?", there can only be one answer: eliminate meat consumption.