Nightmare comes true for Romanian sheep exported to the Gulf.

 

 

WAV Comment – as some of you will be aware, we at WAV were tracking and reporting on this consignment throughout its time between Romania and Iran.

Here are just 3 of our links from the time:

https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2019/08/01/romanian-sheep-ship-update-1-8-19-1020hrsgmt-vessel-now-entering-kuwait-city-expected-to-dock-0300hrs-local/

https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2019/07/25/25-7-romanian-sheep-exports-update-vessel-now-n-the-gulf-of-aden/

https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2019/07/23/al-shuwaikh-romanian-sheep-shipment-70000-animals-current-position-red-sea-has-departed-jeddah/

Well it seems that all of our concerns at the time regarding how the sheep would be treated, as well as the extreme temperatures which we reported on throughout the trip, have now surfaced. Please read the article below.

It was not only this shipment that has caused us concern. We were informed that Romania was planning on exporting around 200,000 live sheep to the middle east every month for the next 6 months or so. This is backed up in the report below which talks of 1 million sheep planned for export to the Gulf. We repeat what is said in the article:

“It is clear that sheep have suffered terribly throughout this entire journey, and that’s before we even mention the routine abuse and fully conscious slaughter they are subjected to when they arrive at their destinations,” said Gabriel Paun. “These sheep come from the green meadows and high mountains of the Romanian countryside, and the contrast in how they are treated in the live export trade is unimaginable.”

Now that sun kissed MEP’s have finally returned from their Summer holidays; probably mostly oblivious to what has been going on, we call on them to take action to stop the export trade from Romania. As we said recently we will be writing to our MEPs on this issue and also that of the ‘box’ trailers (see picture below of sheep transporter) which are used to carry live animals all over Europe.

Yes it is full of live sheep – a ‘box’ trailer as used in the EU.

 

Also, as we published, there have been major problems regarding cattle being shipped from Brazil to Turkey. What a terrible journey that must be for the animals; only to be religiously slaughtered once they arrive in Turkey, not even considering the carbon footprint which is left by a ship hauling cattle half way round the world. The massive fires in Amazonia just show that cattle ranchers there are burning the land to make yet more space for cattle to be raised; for export half way round the world !

These are all issues we will be raising with the EU in the next few weeks. We will publish our letters and concerns; and reproduce any correspondence we get back from the EU.

Regards Mark

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From the Eurogroup for Animals Website:

https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/nightmare-comes-true-for-romanian-sheep-exported-to-persian-gulf

Animal protection organisations are calling for infringement proceedings against Romania, which allowed 66,000 sheep to be exported to the Persian Gulf in the middle of summer, despite the EU Commission urging authorities not to allow the vessel to leave.

In a recent letter to Animals International, Romanian authorities claim they required a 20% reduction in stocking density to mitigate heat stress. But the organization’s evidence, presented last week to the EU Commission, reveals that hundreds of sheep died by the time they reached their destinations, with an investigator describing the “piles of dead sheep” that were filmed at the unloading point in the Gulf.

They also saw surviving sheep being “beaten” as they disembarked in temperatures of over 40°C. While the initial destination was Kuwait, the vessel made 5 stops in the Gulf, increasing the risks of suffering and death from heat stress. Animals were unloaded in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Dubai, Qatar and Oman.

Romania’s daily reports were requested by the Commission after Commissioner Andriukaitis’s call on 10th July to Petre Daea, the Romanian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, to stop the cruel shipment was ignored. “These reports cannot be true. The vessel is a shipwreck that will not be allowed in Australia after the end of this year for being unable to have enough ventilation and access to animals. Even a single sheep on an empty deck will suffer severe heat stress once the temperature and humidity rises on the ship. The ship’s ventilation system is not able to reduce the heat and humidity below the ambient temperature, and in fact the temperature and humidity in the sheep pens will regularly be between 2 and 6 degrees higher than outside the ship. Even if stocking density was halved, the remaining sheep would still be subjected to unbearably high temperatures and would suffer heat stress during these months in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf,” said Gabriel Paun, EU Director of Animals International.

According to the Romanian authorities, this was just the first shipment. Over one million sheep are planned to be exported this year alone to the Gulf, in addition to a further one million animals to be sent to Jordan and Libya from Romania. Such journeys see heat and humidity combinations reach levels that cause heat stroke, resulting in sheep literally cooking alive in the holds of vessels. 

“It is clear that sheep have suffered terribly throughout this entire journey, and that’s before we even mention the routine abuse and fully conscious slaughter they are subjected to when they arrive at their destinations,” said Gabriel Paun. “These sheep come from the green meadows and high mountains of the Romanian countryside, and the contrast in how they are treated in the live export trade is unimaginable.”

There is one light at the end of the tunnel: a proposed law by the Romanian Parliament aims to follow the positive example of Australia and prohibit the sea transport of livestock during the summer months, which would make it the first EU Member State to have such regulations. But Animals International says that even if the law is rushed through in September, it won’t necessarily mean that no more sheep undergo such journeys in the future, as exporters have their eye on at least three other European countries as sources of animals.

Eurogroup for Animals and Animals International had a meeting with the EU Commission last week, during which they presented some of the distressing footage from the Middle East. Both organisations are calling on the Commission to start infringement proceedings against Romania.

 

 

I just came across this article today when looking around. As you know live animal exports is our biggest ‘hate’. With the recent issues we have covered re the 70,000 Romanian sheep to Iran, and the very recent troubles with the livestock ship carrying cattle from Brazil to Turkey not being allowed to dock in Spain, it seemed appropriate to get more facts. Here they are; with thanks to the RSPCA (Australia):

Regards Mark.

The gruesome history of the Bader III live export ship – which docks at Port Adelaide this week

https://www.rspcasa.org.au/live-export-bader-ship/ 

April 19, 2018

As Australians reel at sickening images taken by a whistleblower onboard several routine live export shipments, another vessel is due to dock in Port Adelaide this week to begin loading more sheep for the Middle East market.

Like most live export carriers, the Bader III has an appalling record of extreme animal suffering and mass deaths. The phase-out of this cruel trade must start now.

The Bader III’s latest victims of this trade are also headed to the Middle East. Livestock Shipping Services knows and presumably accepts that a percentage of its cargo will not survive.

Questions are now being raised about the role of insurance in the live export trade. Just how much live exporters like Livestock Shipping Services receive per dead sheep from their insurers is unknown.

But if mortality rates are any indication, there appears to be little commercial incentive to achieve what is surely the main aim of this trade, to deliver sheep that – by journey’s end – are still alive.

RSPCA South Australia believes it’s high time our state’s reputation-damaging involvement in this inhumane and unnecessary trade ends. Please join us in demanding a phase-out of long-haul sheep shipments from SA. Add your voice here.

The Bader III’s latest victims of this trade are also headed to the Middle East. Livestock Shipping Services knows and presumably accepts that a percentage of its cargo will not survive.

Questions are now being raised about the role of insurance in the live export trade. Just how much live exporters like Livestock Shipping Services receive per dead sheep from their insurers is unknown.

But if mortality rates are any indication, there appears to be little commercial incentive to achieve what is surely the main aim of this trade, to deliver sheep that – by journey’s end – are still alive.

RSPCA South Australia believes it’s high time our state’s reputation-damaging involvement in this inhumane and unnecessary trade ends. Please join us in demanding a phase-out of long-haul sheep shipments from SA. Add your voice here.

Sobering reading: official reports of mass sheep deaths

When large numbers of Australian animals die on live export ships, Australia’s Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) is required to investigate and produce a report. These reports make for sobering reading.

Ships belonging to one of the largest live export companies operating from Australia, the Perth-based Livestock Shipping Services, frequently feature in AQIS reports. The Livestock Shipping Services ship Bader III, due to dock in Port Adelaide on Thursday April 19, is no exception.

The Bader III is one of just three live export vessels that are two-tiered. This means animals are packed into two levels of pens on each deck, making welfare checks during the long sea crossings difficult if not impossible. This design also restricts the crucial ventilation needed to prevent heat stress.

AQIS’ Mortality Report Number 46 tells us that on August 17, 2013, nearly 45,000 sheep walked up the ramps on to the Bader III at Port Adelaide, along with an unknown number of camels.

The ship travelled on to Fremantle, where a further 30,795 sheep and some cattle were packed into pens onboard. The stocking density was in accordance with the Australian Standards for the Export of Livestock.

Bader III ship holds awful record for highest sheep deaths

The hottest time in the Middle East are the middle months of the year. Data shows that sheep deaths spike on board live export carriers entering the region at this time. The mercury climbed as the Bader III crossed the equator bound for its first Middle Eastern destination, Qatar.

Something went terribly wrong on Day 21 of this shipment, when the Bader III finally arrived in Qatar’s port city of Doha. The temperature in Doha on this day – 7 September 2013 – hovered around 38C. As the crew began offloading sheep, a staggering 4050 died – one of the largest numbers of exported Australian sheep to die onboard a ship in a single day.

Almost 80% of the sheep that died were from the Adelaide consignment. Unsurprisingly, the live export vet reported that most died from heat stress.

Thousands of sheep deaths legally sanctioned every live export journey

Under Australian regulations, live exporters must report to the Federal Agriculture Department if the mortality rate of sheep onboard ships exceeds 2%. The official end of journey death toll of 4,179 sheep on this 2013 shipment of 75,508 sheep represents a mortality rate of 5.53%. For the sheep loaded in Port Adelaide, the mortality rate was 7.28%.

Under our Federal Government’s 2% rule, more than 1,500 sheep had to die onboard this particular shipment before Livestock Shipping Services were required to make a report that would trigger an investigation by the regulator, Australia’s Federal Department of Agriculture.

 

That is a lot of dead sheep.

If less than 2% of sheep had died – say, 1400 on this 2013 shipment – that would have been considered an ordinary part of the live export business.

Even sheep that don’t die suffer terribly on live export ships

However, the number of dead animals on its own is not a good indicator of animal welfare. The ones that don’t die equally suffer.

The latest images aired on 60 Minutes give a shocking insight of what mass death and extreme animal suffering on board a routine live export shipment during the Middle East’s summer looks like.

Sheep unable to reach food and water. Sheep unable to lie down for the entire three to four week journey. Sheep panting and frothing at the mouth from heat stress and collapsing on decks belly-deep in excrement.

Yet still our Federal Government keeps issuing export permits to companies that routinely breach regulations, and the animals keep being loaded in full knowledge of the suffering that inevitably awaits them.

Help end the cruel and unnecessary live export trade

The Bader III’s latest victims of this trade are also headed to the Middle East. Livestock Shipping Services knows and presumably accepts that a percentage of its cargo will not survive.

Questions are now being raised about the role of insurance in the live export trade. Just how much live exporters like Livestock Shipping Services receive per dead sheep from their insurers is unknown.

But if mortality rates are any indication, there appears to be little commercial incentive to achieve what is surely the main aim of this trade, to deliver sheep that – by journey’s end – are still alive.

RSPCA South Australia believes it’s high time our state’s reputation-damaging involvement in this inhumane and unnecessary trade ends. Please join us in demanding a phase-out of long-haul sheep shipments from SA. Add your voice here.