Investigations at export ports and borders revealed animals left in hot vehicles without food and water, and practices such as cutting the tendons in cows' legs in order to stop them moving.
HILARY OSBORNE: ‘The global trade in live farm animals has more than quadrupled in size over the past 50 years, but patchy regulation means animals may be put at risk on some journeys, or exposed to cruelty when they reach their destination. Every year nearly 2 billion farm animals are loaded on to trucks or ships and sent to new countries in journeys that can take days and sometimes weeks. Every day, at least 5 million animals are in transit. As the trade has grown, profits have rocketed. In 1988, the global trade in all live animals was worth $716m (£548m); by 2017 that had risen to $21bn, according to Comtrade data. These figures do not take inflation into account, but the rise has massively outstripped inflation over that period.
Rising demand for meat in many parts of the world has been a boon for exporters who specialise in breeding or in animals that need to be fattened before slaughter. In the Middle East, in particular, animal imports have risen markedly: in 2016, Saudi Arabia alone imported nearly $1bn worth of live animals. Hong Kong’s reliance on importing animals from China has fuelled fears of greater dependence on the mainland. In turn, other countries rely on selling their farm animals overseas. Romania, for example, exports more than 2 million sheep a year… Australia, Denmark and Spain also have thriving export industries…
But the steadily growing trade has led to concerns about the lack of oversight of animals in transit and when they reach their destination… Investigations by officials and campaigners have highlighted problems at ports and borders where animals are left in hot vehicles, before being loaded on ships where there may not always be access to a vet. Abuse or bad animal practices, such as cutting the tendons in a cow’s legs in order to stop it moving before slaughter, or repeatedly stabbing into the side of the neck in order to kill, have been exposed in a number of slaughterhouses in Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia… Ships licensed to carry animals are often old and dilapidated. In November a ship capsized just off the coast of Romania. More than 14,000 sheep drowned, although the crew were rescued.
The consolidation of the slaughterhouse industry has led to additional problems. The US, UK and France have all recorded fewer, larger meat plants, meaning animals must travel longer distances, and even into other countries, for processing. There is no cross-Europe data, but industry insiders say the trend is similar… Reineke Hameleers, director of the lobbying group Eurogroup for Animals, said: “The existing legislation is not up to date, unenforceable and out of step with societal demands. There’s barely any legislation on transport by sea, and once the animals are outside the EU, there is no way of even monitoring standards, let alone enforcing them – and this goes for slaughter as well as transport.” The group is calling for a total ban on live exports, and limits on journey times within countries’. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEO: