Egypt slaughters over 30,000 baby cows stranded at port

CAIRO: Egypt’s ministry of agriculture reported on Thursday that they had slaughtered over 30,000 baby cows who had been stranded for weeks at a Red Sea port. The ministry said that it had discovered what it described as “hormonal capsules” in the animals, local newspapers reported.

The stranded cows had made international headlines after Bikyamasr.com first reportedtheir situation on September 1, including a Care2.com petition that was signed by over 25,000 people globally urging the Egyptian government to free the baby cows from their horrific conditions.

The ministry chose to slaughter the animals instead.

Egypt slaughtered over 30,000 baby cows, but the anti-live export protests are growing.

The baby cows had remained on board the ships for over 6 weeks at Port Sokhna in what animal rights groups told Bikyamasr.com are “horrendous and inhumane” conditions.

It is yet another incident that revealed the horrors of the live export trade.

Background on Live Export

Live export from Brazil and Australia to the Islamic world is a controversial practice that sees thousands of animals crammed into small crates and transported by sea to their destination to be slaughtered for food.

According to the ministry, tests had been conducted to learn more about the potential carcinogen that had been given to the animals before they would be unloaded. Tests had reportedly been ongoing for the past month at a private lab in Egypt, but no results had been conclusive.

According to a al-Shorouk newspaper report, the animals are likely to remain in their confinement for a number of weeks more in order for further tests to take place.

Earlier this year, some 3,000 of the cows died on a ship destined for Egypt after the Egyptian government refused to allow the ship to dock at a Red Sea port.

They were slaughtered as a “precaution,” the ministry said, outraging a number of Egyptians.

Animals Australia, the leading organization reporting on the controversial live export trade to the Middle East and Southeast Asia, said the incident was among the worst the industry had witnessed in years.

Animals Australia’s Campaign Director, Lyn White, said in a statement to Bikyamasr.com that the ship was anchored at sea after being refused port in a number of countries, including Egypt, where the cattle were supposed to be offloaded.

It’s understood that ventilation problems on the converted livestock vessel, the MV Gracia Del Mar, had caused the deaths of more than half of the animals on board since the ship left South America for Egypt a few weeks ago. The ship was anchored in the Red Sea for weeks and saw more animals perish as a result.

“This is nothing short of an animal welfare disaster. If remaining cattle are not offloaded more of these animals will suffer appalling deaths at sea. We are appealing to authorities in Egypt to offload the remaining cattle at al-Sohkna, as was originally intended.

“This disaster is just another example of the inherent risks of transporting animals by sea. It was only nine years ago that 5,000 Australian sheep perished on board the MV Cormo Express after country after country refused to allow it to berth.

“And this isn’t the first time that mechanical issues have caused mass deaths on live export ships. We only need to look to the breakdown of the Al Messilah in Adelaide last year. Had that vessel broken down on the open ocean it would have caused a similar welfare catastrophe — as thousands of animals would have died.

“Australia also exports cattle to Al Sohkna Livestock company in Egypt. Whilst we have an MoU with Egypt which should ensure the offloading of our animals, it has never been put to the test. The Egyptians thus far have flatly refused to allow the MV Gracia Del Mar to dock despite the mass suffering of the animals on board.

“If they continue to refuse to allow the surviving animals to be unloaded it would provide little confidence that the non-binding agreement with Australia would be honoured if a similar incident were to occur on an Australian livestock ship.

“It should not matter if these cattle aren’t Australian and if Brazil doesn’t have a similar piece of paper, they should not be abandoned to suffer and die at sea. We are appealing to Egyptian authorities to offload these cattle as a matter of urgency.”

Australia’s live sheep exports have fallen significantly over the past decade.

In 2010, three million sheep were exported compared with 6.3 million in 2001.

Australia’s government last year was to see a bill that would have banned live export to the world, but industry lobbyists fought back and forced the legislation off the table in a move that angered animal activists in the country and across the world, notably the Islamic world, which receives the lion’s share of live cattle and sheep from both Australia and Brazil.

News Link:-http://www.bikyamasr.com/76962/egypt-slaughters-over-30000-baby-cows-stranded-at-port/

Compassion in World Farming – Overwhelming response to Red Sea crisis

Compassion in World Farming is saying a huge thank you to its amazing supporters, who sent 40,000 emails in 40 hours to the Brazilian and Egyptian authorities and the World Animal Health Organisation, the OIE, in response to a live transport crisis on the Red Sea.

The terrible news of a stranded ship, the Gracia del Mar, with thousands of dead and dying cattle onboard, came through to us on Friday March 2nd. We were told the ship, which had around 2,750 dead cattle onboard, had been refused permission to unload at its Egyptian destination and had failed to find a port willing to take her.

Compassion launched an immediate investigation and raised the alarm with the authorities in Brazil, where the ship had come from, and Egypt, urging them to adhere to and live up to their responsibilities under the OIE regulations for animals in transport and sort the situation out quickly.

Compassion also alerted its committed supporters, who sprung into action lobbying the two governments and the OIE.

We now have a fuller picture of what happened on this tragic voyage that caused the needless death and suffering of thousands of animals.

We are told the Gracia Del Mar, carrying 5,600 cattle, was hit by a freezing snowstorm off the coast of Algeria and thousands of the animals succumbed to the cold. The ship continued to Egypt where it was refused permission to unload in Egypt and spent several days in the Red Sea, with the dead cattle still onboard, unable to find anywhere to dock.

We’ve since been told the remaining live cattle were transferred from the ship and taken to land. We are still trying to ascertain exactly where they were taken.

Of course, we believe that the root cause is long distance live transport itself. This archaic trade should not exist. That is why will will continue to fight to end it. With our amazing supporters, we are confident we can win – like the transporters themselves, we are in this for the long haul.

Take action:

Join thousands of supporters who have urged the OIE to take action to ensure this sort of situation cannot happen again >>

via Compassion in World Farming – Overwhelming response to Red Sea crisis.

Campaigning for farm animal welfare – Compassion in World Farming

Dying cattle are stranded at sea; more than 2750 are already dead. We must take urgent action now to end this welfare disaster.

The Gracia Del Mar set out from Brazil, bound for Egypt with thousands of cattle on board. It is currently in the Red Sea area, near Eritrea. The ship has had an engine failure which has led to a failure in the ventilation system.

Reports suggest that more than 2,750 cattle are already dead, and the situation is worsening with every hour that passes. The ship has attempted to dock at a number of ports, including

its destination port in Egypt, but has been turned away due to the number of dead and dying cattle. Reports suggest conditions on board are desperate.

The Brazilian and Egyptian authorities must take urgent action today to end this major welfare disaster. Not only is it their responsibility to do so, but they have the resources to provide the support and veterinary expertise so urgently needed.

Please send the email below to the Brazilian and Egyptian Agriculture Ministers calling on them to fulfil their responsibilities. They need to get the ship docked, get treatment to any surviving animals and bring this disaster to a close.

via Campaigning for farm animal welfare – Compassion in World Farming.