Live animal transport: the terrible sea journeys from Spain to the Middle East and North Africa
Environment — di Valeria Berzero
Live animal transport is one phase of the meat industry. Regulations to protect exported animals are, however, lacking.
Live animal transport: the terrible sea journeys from Spain to the Middle East and North Africa
Live animal transport is one phase of the meat industry. Regulations to protect exported animals are, however, lacking.
A new investigation, published by Animal Equality with previously unseen footage from Animal Welfare Foundation, sheds light on a dark and little-discussed aspect: the transport by sea of live animals raised for food from Europe to slaughterhouses in the Middle East and North Africa. The investigation reveals the cruel treatment inflicted on animals during these journeys departing from Spain, one of Europe's leading exporters of live cattle and the world's second largest exporter of sheep.
The trade in live animals for food from European ports to destinations beyond the Union's borders grew after Australia tightened its animal welfare requirements for exports in 2011, leaving a gap in the market. Spain is among the European countries that capitalised on this most, directing its animal trade increasingly towards non-EU destinations.
The problem, however, is that during these journeys and at their end, cows, calves, sheep, lambs and chickens are subjected to terrible suffering. First and foremost, the ships into which the animals are crammed are often inadequate for the purpose: only four of the 64 EU-authorised vessels were purpose-built for live animal transport. The rest have been converted from other uses and have an average age of thirty years.
On board these ships, animals are exposed to harsh weather and high temperatures; they travel in overcrowded conditions, in a state of constant stress and suffering. Despite these critical issues, a vet is not required to be present on board to care for the animals, which, given the appalling travel conditions, frequently die.
Their carcasses, moreover, are thrown into the sea: an illegal practice, but one frequently documented in other investigations and confirmed by the discovery of animal carcasses — such as cows and sheep — on the coastlines of several countries, as has happened recently in France too.
The animals that reach their destination alive face a terrible fate. In the slaughterhouses of the Middle Eastern and North African countries to which they are transported, the minimum legal standards for animal protection that apply in Europe do not exist. The animals followed by our investigation, for example, travelled for days from Spain, passing through the ports of Tarragona and Cartagena, all the way to Lebanon. There they were killed in a slaughterhouse without being stunned, amid terrible suffering.
🔴 Il trasporto di animali vivi in una foto.
Ogni anno circa 9,7 milioni di animali compiono interminabili viaggi, dall’Europa verso paesi terzi.
Caricati come oggetti su imbarcazioni sovraffollate, arrivano a destinazione stremati, disidratati, feriti e in alcuni casi non
Ogni anno circa 9,7 milioni di animali compiono interminabili viaggi, dall’Europa verso paesi terzi.
Caricati come oggetti su imbarcazioni sovraffollate, arrivano a destinazione stremati, disidratati, feriti e in alcuni casi non
These cruelties still permitted today by Europe cannot continue, which is why we are calling on the European Commission to ban the export of live animals to third countries outside the European Union, putting an end to this problematic and unacceptable practice. It is imperative to act to end the suffering of billions of animals who are victims of this trade.
Anyone wishing to join Animal Equality's appeal can sign the petition, which has already gathered over seventy thousand signatures in Italy. Because animals are not commodities.