The French Minister for Agriculture and Food, Didier Guillaume, has announced on the France 2 TV show ‘4 Vérités’ a suspension on live animal transport because of the high temperatures. 

The restriction will start today and will prohibit certain transports of living animals between 1pm and 6pm from the French départements that are under orange/red alert for the heat.

https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/france-temporarily-restricts-live-transport-because-of-the-heat-wave

With another heatwave set to envelope Europe this week, France’s decision is the latest in a series of actions taken by some Member States to alleviate the situation. 

“For animals crammed into trucks for transportation – often for several days or weeks – temperatures exceeding 30°C , let alone 40°C, cause heat stress which is hellish and can be deadly,” said Reineke Hameleers, director of Eurogroup for Animals. “With their suspension of some live transport, France is heading in the right direction. But we are still concerned that this order will have a limited impact on the welfare of animals.” 

Unfortunately the scope of this order is quite limited. The restriction is not applicable to consignments destined to other EU and non-EU countries, and it does not affect sea transport. The role of the DDPP – the territorially competent administrative authority that oversees animal health and the protection of populations – is not sufficiently clarified, and there is a risk that approvals will continue to be granted despite the fact that trucks will go through the area categorized as orange/red. Also, the limited time of the suspension poses severe risks due to the fact that under such extreme weather conditions, temperatures can be higher than 30°C even before 1pm and after 6pm.

Eurogroup for Animals and its French members Fondation Brigitte Bardot, Welfarm, Compassion in World Farming France (CIWF), and La Fondation Droit Animal, Ethique et Sciences (LFDA), call on the French Government to suspend live animal transport during the summer period as the only way to effectively protect the welfare of animals and comply with the Council Regulation (EC) no. 1/2005.

Eurogroup for Animals is working to have an EU ban of live transport during summer.

WAV Comment –

why are they not calling for a ban on live transport full stop ? – or certainly a maximum of 8hours as European citizens have been petitioning for ?

As with most EU issues, it (EU) does not really have a clue about enforcement of laws. So from this we assume that it is ok to transport 70,000 live sheep into the Red Sea area from Romania in temperatures of 40 degrees; but that you cannot transport them in France (quite rightly) above 30 degrees.

So are Romanian sheep different to sheep that are not allowed to travel in France ? – it would seem so, as Romanian sheep are going all the way to the Middle East in temperatures way exceeding 30 degrees – more like 40 according to the monitoring we have been doing about the Romanian consignment.

We hear big EU talk about taking action now against the Romanians – so lets see it !

Or is the EU only doing what it is really good at ? – being all talk and no action ?

As Venus has just said in her post below:

The EU Commission is the police in the EU area, which means that, according to the will of Parliament, it should be allowed to impose fines on countries that do not comply with EU law.
Transports to non-EU countries in breach of EU requirements must also be systematically prohibited.

Update: 24/7/19 0900hrs GMT.

The Al Shuwaikh is now in the Southern sector of the Red Sea,

Between Al Hudaydah in Yemen to the East, and Eritrea to the West.

Maybe it will get to the Arabian Sea today, but breath not being held …………..

Regards Mark

Update: 23/7/19 0945hrs GMT.

The Al Shuwaikh has now left Jeddah port and is underway using its own power, heading South down the Red Sea.

It is currently positioned between Port Sudan (Sudan) to the West, and Al Lith (Saudi Arabia) to the East.

We cannot confirm at the moment if sheep are on board or if they were all unloaded at Jeddah.

It is possible the ship is empty and returning to it ‘home’ of Kuwait.

We are currently looking at different routes we can approach to obtain accurate information from the authorities.

Regards Mark

Recent posts on this:

https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2019/07/21/romanian-sheep-ship-has-now-docked-at-jeddah-port-2300hrs-gmt-21-7-19/

https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2019/07/21/the-case-midia/

https://worldanimalsvoice.com/2019/07/20/romanian-sheep-shipping-news-20-7-19-new-kuwait-eta-over-another-weeks-sailing-time-now-set-what-are-conditions-like-for-the-animals/

Update: 21/7/19 2300hrs GMT.

The Al Shuwaikh has now docked in Jeddah port tonight (2330hrs local).

Why ? – A ‘Route Plan’ has to be submitted under EU Regulations BEFORE the shipment can take place.  So did the Romanian approved Route Plan always declare Jeddah as the final destination ?, and the ship was simply to return to home base of Kuwait EMPTY from there ?

Now we need to check out the formal Romanian Route Plan to see what the sheep’s final destination actually was – Saudi Arabia or Kuwait ?

The AK could set sail from Jeddah in the next few days, but it does not mean the sheep are on board – it could be returning home empty to Kuwait.

Only the Route Plan approved by the Romanian authorities will declare exactly what the final destination of the sheep was to be.  It could have been Jeddah.

So does this from the EU Commissioner make any sense:

Ref https://www.eurogroupforanimals.org/australia-has-stopped-live-transport-during-high-temperatures-lets-not-lag-behind-commissioner-andriukaitis

Commissioner Andriukaitis’ said only:

On the subject of this weekend’s decision by Romania to go ahead with the transport of 70,000 sheep from Romania to the Persian Gulf, Commissioner Andriukaitis said that the Commission is investigating the issue and that “infringement proceedings against Romania cannot be excluded at this time”.

He said ‘Persian Gulf’ but the plan could have said Saudi Arabia (Jeddah), not Kuwait.  The East of Saudi is in the Persian Gulf; so ‘Persian Gulf’ could have actually meant ‘Saudi Arabia’.

But also, the question is – how many sheep have perished under the shipment conditions ?

The Romanians SHOULD have taken the temperatures for the sheep on the journey into account when they were looking at the submitted (but not approved at the time – Route Plan) in ADVANCE of the shipment.  Did they ?

We will get the Route Plan in some way now and check out what is says.

Regards Mark

Romanian Sheep shipping news – 21/7/19.

Date – 21/7/19 – 10-50hrs GMT

We are tracking the vessel.

Things seem a little odd with this.

From what we can find out, the Al Shuwaikh is still sailing for Kuwait; with its arrival date now set at an ETA of 2/8/19.

But as of 10-50hrs GMT today, 21/7/19; she is still way up in the Red Sea; just to the East of the port of Jeddah / (near Mecca) in Saudi Arabia. The speed of the vessel over recent times has been between 0.2 and 1.5 knots.

Above – the planned route to Kuwait.

So, we ask, what is happening ? – are there mechanical issues ? – has ‘Kuwait’ as a destination suddenly changed to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia ? – yet the vessel is still scheduled to arrive in Kuwait on 2/8.

0.2 -1.5 knots is not exactly racing along; so why the slow speed ?

With a cargo of 70,000 live sheep travelling under such extreme conditions; and with temperatures in the area at around 40 degrees, would the vessel not be trying to get to Kuwait as fast as it could ?

We think there are problems, as there have been with many of these livestock vessels in the past.

Unfortunately we cannot prove this at present, but this ship has been in the Red Sea for a few days now; and that is not really a great distance to travel.

More news to come if we can track with further updates;

For the Sheep

Regards Mark – WAV.

Romanian Sheep shipping news – 20/7/19.

Date – 20/7/19 – 10-25hrs GMT

According to all the information over the past week, the Al Shuwaikh which has been sailing from Romania to Kuwait with 70,000 live sheep, should have arrived at its destination in the early hours of this morning.

Instead, from information we have now obtained, the vessel is still only just half way down the Red Sea; and now the expected arrival date (ETA) has changed to 2/8/19; which is nearly another 2 weeks away !

We are trying to find out if this vessel has had any issues (such as breakdowns) which have delayed it (it is well known for past problems at sea); and we will publish these if we find out.  There could also have been issues relating to health and paperwork issues in allowing this vessel to get into the Red Sea from the Med.

God knows what the conditions are like on board for the animals; now that the journey appears to be destined to take more than twice its scheduled sailing time.  (see the video below which will show similarities).

Obviously the Romanian government does not care about the suffering of animals; as it ignored the requests from the EU and other authorities to stop the sailing before it even commenced. This is Romania, an EU member state which does not comply with EU legislation, and which certainly does not give a toss about the suffering of animals; as we have seen for years regarding their approach to stray dog control.

This sailing is just one of many that are carrying livestock all over the world by sea. We wanted to follow this, giving you reports each day so that you can get a feel for the suffering the animals on board will be suffering. Now it appears that these poor Romanian sheep have over another week at sea before they reach their destination in Kuwait; only then to be greeted by ritual slaughter under the name of Eid.
https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/saying-goodbye-to-the-al-shuwaikh/ customs / health

Red Sea temperatures on 20/7 are between 38 and 43 degrees.

In Kuwait port today the temperature is 40 degrees.

EU Regulations (1/2005) for animals in transport, say that animals must not be transported in temperatures above 30 degrees.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32005R0001

Watch it; learn and repent !