- By Wedaeli Chibelushi
- BBC News
2 hours ago
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Millions of farm animals have to endure long sea journeys every year
Cape Town residents woke up on Monday morning to a pungent, sewage-like smell enveloping their city.
The source? A ship from Brazil carrying 19,000 cattle had anchored in the South African city the night before to reload animal feed.
After an investigation on board the Al Kuwait, staff from a leading animal welfare organization, the National Council of SPCAs (NSPCA), said the cattle had been on board for two and a half weeks and were living in a “building” accumulation of feces and ammonia [a gas released from urine]”.
The conditions were “horrible” and the stench was “unimaginable,” the NSPCA said in its statement.
The ship's final destination is Iraq, meaning that the thought of tens of thousands of smelly cattle floating in the sea off their city might at some point seem like a fever dream to Cape Town residents.
However, there will still be unrest in the air, campaign groups say.
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The Al Kuwait is on its way to Iraq with 19,000 cattle on board
Cattle are just a fraction of the millions of farm animals that travel long distances to be slaughtered and eaten in another country.
Animal rights groups have long complained that conditions aboard these ships can be dangerous.
They say in some cases animals have been trampled to death due to overcrowding, while dehydration, disease and starvation also pose risks.
Proponents of livestock export argue that the practice provides food security to importing countries and also provides financial benefits to farming communities in exporting countries.
Although disasters like these are terrible, “the real worst is simply the everyday suffering” of exported livestock, Peter Stevenson of global animal rights group Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) told the BBC.
The 19,000 cattle docked in South Africa are part of a much larger herd of Brazilian exports – in 2022, the South American country sent 150,000 live cattle abroad, CIWF estimates.
Last year, a Brazilian judge banned the export of live cattle from the country, citing poor animal welfare practices. However, the ban is still pending.
Australia and the European Union (EU) are also major exporters of livestock, with the latter selling around 4.5 million live livestock abroad, according to the South African chapter of animal welfare group Four Paws.
In Africa, Somalia and Sudan export the most. Sudanese authorities said the country exported more than 2.7 million cattle in 2023 despite a raging civil war, according to local media.
But why do countries want to import live animals and not chilled or frozen meat?
“There is a traditional belief in many countries that fresh meat is somehow tastier and healthier than packaged, refrigerated or frozen meat,” Stevenson said.
Some of these countries would have difficulty raising animals from birth because they suffer from dry conditions that have only worsened due to global warming.
Australia's LiveCorp, an organization that supports Australia's livestock exporters, and AgForce, which represents Queensland's rural producers, argue that animal transport contributes to food security in water-stressed regions such as the Middle East.
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Activists have long protested against the global export of livestock
They also say exporting livestock benefits Australia's economy and farming communities, who can sell their animals overseas at a higher price than domestically.
Nevertheless, Australia has committed to “phasing out” live sheep exports in 2023. However, no deadline has been set. Neighboring New Zealand introduced a ban in the same year.
In Europe, Luxembourg has banned the trade and the United Kingdom is on track to do the same – a law passed by the lower house of Commons, the House of Commons, last month. It will be discussed by the upper chamber, the House of Lords, on Wednesday.
Four Paws points out that South Africa not only docks a ship full of livestock in the port of Cape Town, but also exports livestock itself.
“There are insufficient regulations and raising animals in the country only for transport and killing results in South Africa bearing the harmful effects of animal farming while the importing country does not,” says Fiona Miles, who The charity's South Africa director said.
The cattle docked in Cape Town not only caused a foul stench, but also reminded the world of the risks animals face on the long journey to our plates.
“Animals are sentient beings and experience pain and stress just as we do,” Ms. Miles said.