26,000 animaux du Brésil vers le Liban-(voyage de 20 jrs+)

[Animal 0]

Live shipment of cattle from Brazil to Lebanon

News release: Wednesday 26 July 2006

News that a further 4,000 head of cattle are en route by ship from Brazil to Lebanon has been condemned by the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) today.

Despite the extended suffering of a previous shipment of 1,800 cattle that were caught at sea over a week ago, following the blockade of the Lebanese port of Beirut, this further shipment of cattle left the Brazilian harbour of Rio Grande in the south of Brazil on Friday (21st July). In addition, a further 22,000 animals are believed to have left the same port on the 1st July.
Leah Garcés, WSPA’s Director of Campaigns, said: “It is absolutely shocking that the welfare of these animals has been put at risk with no guarantee that the ship will be able to dock during the current conflict. WSPA is deeply concerned that these animals will suffer the same fate as the last shipment of cattle and be stranded at sea, enduring unnecessary and prolonged suffering.”

She added: “Even if the ship is able to dock, these animals will already have endured a journey of at least 20 days only to be slaughtered upon arrival. Why couldn’t they have been slaughtered where they started? The long distant transport of live animals is wholly unacceptable when it could be replaced by a meat-only trade. This would also ensure that food reached the Lebanese people more swiftly during this time of need.”


The first shipment of 1,800 cattle from Brazil on the ‘Friesian Express’ operated by the Dutch company Vroon was re-routed to the Syrian Port of Tartus due to the conflict. When the ship finally docked on July 16th, it took a further three days for the animals to be unloaded. This latest shipment on the Panamanian vessel ‘Almahmaud X5’ is likely to encounter the same problems.

Each year thousands of cattle are exported to the Middle East from Brazil, China, Uruguay, Australia, Ireland, France and Germany. 53,000 head of cattle have already been shipped from Brazil this year, surpassing the 50,000 that were exported last year, signalling a rising and deeply concerning trend.

Around one million pigs are also exported from the Netherlands to Italy and Spain and hundreds of thousands of sheep and lambs are sent from the UK to Greece, Italy and Spain, often enduring journeys of more than 45 hours before being slaughtered. Although some countries do have laws protecting animals during transport, most do not. In countries with relevant welfare laws do exist, enforcement is often poor.

WSPA, which has more than 690 Member Societies in over 140 countries, is calling upon governments to cease the inherent and unnecessary cruelty of the long distant transport of live animals, which could viably be replaced by a meat only trade. The charity, which has consultative status with the United Nations (UN), is also raising awareness and encouraging the public, industry and retailers to source meat products from suppliers closer to slaughter houses.


http://www.wspa.com.au/