Category: Farm Animals

Farm Animals, General News

Getting More Common Now – The Embassy Refused To Accept Our Petition Signatures – Does The Show Against Animal Cruelty Frighten Them Into Turning Away ?

“The embassy refused to accept our petition signatures”.

We are experiencing exactly the same re our UK and German petitions for cats being tortured in China.

See all links:  Search Results for “china cat torture” – World Animals Voice

Currently we have tried many ways to present petitions to the Chinese Ambassadors.  With every message we send we are being completely ignored.  We have attempted to get contacts via UK politicians, the UK Foreign Office and UK and German Ambassadors in China.

Everything we have tried has just been ignored.

The petitions thus continue, until we do find a way to formally present the petitions.

Petitions:

UK – Petition · Chinese Cat Torture – Time For Action To Stop It. – United Kingdom · Change.org

Germany – https://www.change.org/p/china-katzen-folter-ring-cat-torture-ring

At the moment we are planning our next move about this.  Please stay tuned.

Mark and Diana.

Did you know that India is the largest milk producer in the world and one of the leading exporters of beef and leather? And at the same time, the animal welfare guidelines in India are enormously low. Undercover investigations by Animal Equality reveal serious abuses of cattle and calves in Indian dairy farms, slaughterhouses and animal markets. Germany also plays an important role in this, as our country is the second most important sales market for leather from India.

We call on the Indian government to implement stricter animal welfare guidelines and end the cruel practices.

Over 52,000 People have signed our petition “Tortured for Milk and Leather – End the Suffering of ‘Sacred’ Cows in India”.

We have contacted the Ambassador of the Republic of India to Germany, Harish Parvathaneni, several times to personally hand over the voices of citizens against animal suffering to him.

Unfortunately, our requests went unanswered and the embassy refused to accept our petition signatures.

Nevertheless, on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, we protested with posters in front of the Indian mission abroad to educate employees and passers-by about the suffering of cattle. With our team in India, we will continue to work to improve animal welfare guidelines on farms and animal markets.

Undercover Investigations Show Cruel Abuse

In India, the image of the “sacred” cow prevails, but the reality for Indian cattle and calves in dairy farms, slaughterhouses and animal markets often means massive violence, as our undercover research shows. In order to move cattle, they are beaten with sticks and chains by the workers and stabbed in the genitals.

The animals’ tails are broken and chili is rubbed into their eyes. Footage from the slaughterhouses documents how cattle and buffalo are beaten to the head with hammer blows and how the animals’ throats are often cut several times if the first stab is not fatal.

It is best not to wear or eat animal products at all. In this way, you can reduce animal suffering every day. You can find great inspiration for a variety of plants on your plate on Love Veg

Vanessa Wraith Director, Animal Equality Germany
Environmental, Farm Animals, General News, Uncategorized

EU: Candidate MEPs Take The Vote For Animals Pledge.

From left to right: MEPS Francisco Guerreiro, Tilly Metz, Caroline Roose, Sirpa Pietikäinen, Senior Political Advisor at Eurogroup for Animals Andreas Erler and IFAW Representative Filip Molnár

Candidate MEPs take the Vote for Animals pledge

25 April 2024

Press Release

MEPs of the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals celebrated their achievements for the last legislative term, while candidates for the next one pledged to continue to advocate for better protection of all animals at the EU level.

The Intergroup, which met for the last session for this term, brings together 94 MEPs from across all political groups, and provides a cross-party platform for discussions and initiatives on animal welfare in the European Parliament (EP). For the past four decades, it has been a crucial catalyst for action on this front.

Some of the noteworthy achievements of this term include:

The set-up of a Committee of Inquiry on the Protection of Animals during Transport (ANIT), which pushed for the revision of the outdated Regulation on animal transport.

The resolution on actions to accelerate a transition to non-animal science.

The working group on the ECI End the Cage Age, which contributed to get  a resolution in the EP and a subsequent European Commission (EC) commitment.

The adoption of a resolution on improving Regulations on wild and exotic animals to be kept as pets in the EU, through a positive list.

The support for a campaign calling for an EU commissioner on animal welfare.

A working group on companion animals.

During her intervention, President of the Intergroup Tilly Metz said that the Intergroup has continuously made animal welfare visible in the EP, through reports, working groups, resolutions and parliamentary questions. She expressed her disappointment at the EC’s failure to put forward a full package of proposals to update the EU animal welfare legislation, despite continuous pressure by members of the Intergroup and animal protection NGOs.

In the run-up to the European Elections in June, candidate MEPs are taking a pledge stating a clear commitment to strive to improve animal welfare if they are elected, through the Vote for Animals campaign, run by Eurogroup for Animals and its members. The pledge, composed of ten asks, addresses live animal transport, imports of animal-based products, welfare of aquatic species, non-animal science and the conservation of wild animals, among others.

These were five intense years of fighting for better animal welfare. We have seen overwhelming civil mobilisation, which shows the willingness of EU citizens to better protect animals at an EU level. We need legislation that protects all animals, including aquatic ones, which are currently unprotected. We have yet to see a ban on cages, on fur farms, and fur products in the EU market,

MEP Caroline Roose (Greens/EFA, FR), Vice President of the Intergroup

Without the civil society – the ECIs, campaigns and other initiatives – we wouldn’t have been so strong. We require species-specific legislation, for example for octopus, and other animals which are unprotected. We must continue to bring animal welfare on the table in important discussions,

MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen, (EPP, FI) Honorary President of the Intergroup

As 300 million animals continue to suffer in cages, we need the European Commission to deliver on the End the Cage Age ECI. We need to push for a roadmap for a transition to non-animal science, and a ban on the transport of vulnerable animals

MEP Niels Fuglsang (S&D, DK), Vice-President of the Intergroup

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

USA: U.S. health and agriculture officials are ramping up testing and tracking of bird flu in dairy cows.

Source – The Independent – London.

U.S. health and agriculture officials are ramping up testing and tracking of bird flu in dairy cows in an urgent effort to understand — and stop — the growing outbreak.

So far, the risk to humans remains low, officials said, but scientists are wary that the virus could change to spread more easily among people.

Read the full story at:

More cows are being tested and tracked for bird flu. Here’s what that means (msn.com)

Farm Animals, General News, Uncategorized

Thailand: Pythons Smashed With Hammers and Impaled On Hooks – Take Action.

Footage recorded at a python farm in Thailand has revealed that pythons are fed chicks before they are violently killed to make snakeskin accessories.

PETA Asia’s investigation into a facility with ties to Gucci’s parent company, Kering, shows that chicks are attached to sausages so that pythons will eat meat they otherwise wouldn’t consume.

Workers then pin the struggling pythons down, bash them on the head with a hammer, and drive metal hooks through their skull. Lastly, the snakes are inflated with water and skinned, all in the name of fashion.

https://secure.peta.org.au/page/141562/action/1?locale=en-AU&utm_source=peta-au::e-mail&utm_medium=alert&utm_campaign=0424::skn::peta-au::e-mail::kering-aa::::aa-em

Please ask Kering to stop selling snakes’ skin through Gucci or its other brands:

Tell Kering to Cut Ties With Cold-Blooded Snake Slaughter

A yearlong PETA Asia investigation into two python farms that supply skins to Caravel – a tannery owned by Kering, whose brands include Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent – revealed cold-blooded treatment of snakes. Workers pinned struggling pythons down by the neck and bashed them over the head with a hammer before driving metal hooks through their head. The snakes were inflated with water, even as their bodies continued to move, and skinned. Please take action for snakes by urging Kering to drop exotic skins now.

Pythons Bashed With Hammers, Impaled With Hooks

The investigators documented that workers pin struggling pythons down by the neck and bash them over the head with a hammer before driving metal hooks through their head. To make their skins easier to remove, workers inflate the snakes with water, even as they continue to move. According to Dr Clifford Warwick, a reptile expert who reviewed the video footage, it’s likely that most of the animals were conscious during this horrifically painful process. The snakes were then skinned.

CCBI’s owner claimed that his workers put pythons in a chilled room for one day before slaughtering them, but there’s no scientific evidence that imposed hypothermia (intentionally causing a reduction in core temperature) has any meaningful effect on reducing sensitivity or awareness in snakes.

According to the owner, at the time of the investigation, CCBI confined some 15,000 pythons at a massive factory-farm operation – one of the largest that PETA Asia has investigated. It slaughters approximately 2,000 snakes during its busy season, typically killing 20 to 30 pythons a day. The owner told an investigator about the farm’s contract with Caravel to supply it with 5,000 skins in 2024.

Kering’s Complicity in Snakes’ Suffering

Despite indisputable documentation of abuse at facilities that supply Kering with exotic skins – including PETA Asia’s 2021 investigation into an Indonesian slaughterhouse that provides Gucci with lizard skins – the company continues to tout its Animal Welfare Standards, which specify that animals must have “room to move around freely” and be “managed to promote good health and treated immediately should disease or injury be discovered”. The standards also require “humane handling at end of life”. Claims of upholding these standards were proved false by PETA Asia’s investigations.

Farm Animals, General News, Stray Animals, Uncategorized

Croatia: Excellent ! – Increased Penalties For Animal Abuse in Croatia: Abandonment Now A Crime.

17 April 2024

Prijatelji životinja

Over 10,000 animals are abandoned each year in Croatia.

It’s not only a problem for domestic animals like dogs and cats, but also farmed animals.

An amendment of the country’s Penal Code has now made abandoning an animal a criminal offence punishable by up to 2 years in prison, as well as increasing penalties for causing unnecessary pain or suffering, killing or abusing animals.

Amendments to the Croatian Penal Code came into effect on 2 April, bringing with them the long-awaited positive changes in animal protection.

Under the new legislation, individuals who abandon any animal they are responsible for will face imprisonment for up to one year. If the abandonment results in the death of an animal or involves the abandonment of multiple animals, the perpetrator could be sentenced to up to two years in prison. 

This significant victory for animal welfare is the culmination of extensive efforts by Animal Friends Croatia, which initiated a petition in 2021 urging for animal abandonment to be treated as a criminal offence. Notably, 80% of the population supported this campaign.

Animal abandonment can now be directly reported to the police or municipal prosecutor’s office, rather than to veterinary inspectors. This streamlined process aims to expedite responses and facilitate the prosecution of offenders. It also serves as a deterrent against animal abandonment, as individuals are now aware that they risk imprisonment and may take the long-term care of animals into consideration before acquiring one. 

The penalties for causing unnecessary pain or suffering to animals, and for killing or severely abusing animals, have been increased from a maximum of one year to two years. In cases where these offences are committed for financial gain, perpetrators may now face imprisonment for up to three years instead of two.

Another new measure allows courts to impose restrictions on individuals who have committed animal-related offences if there is a risk of reoffending; a ban on owning or acquiring animals for a period of one to five years.

Animal Friends Croatia is now urging citizens with information about law violations to promptly report any instances of animal abandonment and abuse to the police.

Regards Mark

Excellent, and we congratulate our friends at Animal Friends Croatia for getting this fantastic result.

We have experienced similar issues in the past in Serbia – another Balkans nation.

Check out all of our past work at https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/about-serbian-animals/

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

Spain: Octopus farm must be stopped, say campaigners, as new documents reveal plans were reckless and threatened environment, wildlife and public health.

Octopus farm must be stopped, say campaigners, as new documents reveal plans were reckless and threatened environment, wildlife and public health

8 April 2024

CIWF

Press Release

Campaigners are calling on a seafood company to scrap plans to build the world’s first octopus farm in Spain as new documents reveal that – as well as ignoring animal cruelty concerns – it failed to consider the significant threats the farm would pose to wildlife, the environment and public health.

Environment report was insufficient & exposes ‘hypocrisy’ of Nueva Pescanova’s sustainability claims

NGOs Eurogroup for Animals, Compassion in World Farming and AnimaNaturalis are urging company Nueva Pescanova to immediately stop the project on the grounds that, as well as causing cruelty to octopuses, the farm contradicts its own corporate sustainability claims. Among the concerns is that the farm could threaten dolphins and turtles near the site, and its discharges could add to local water pollution and CO2 emissions. The probability of these impacts was considered to be ‘significantly high’ by the Canary Islands Government.

The company’s website claims that it is committed to ‘maintaining biodiversity’, ‘protecting the ecosystem’ and ‘promoting the circular economy’. Yet its own environmental report for the farm at the Port of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, was considered insufficient by the Canary Islands Government due to concerns that the plans could:

threaten local wildlife, including protected cetaceans (dolphins and porpoises) and vulnerable sea turtles, through noise and water pollution due to its close proximity to a Marine Protected Area (MPA).

pose a public health risk by using nearby seawater which is not of a high enough quality to be used for human food production.

cause pollution including CO2 emissions, odour concerns, and discharges that could significantly contribute to the already highly contaminated harbour waters.

threaten a protected species of algae – cystoseira – which is present in the surroundings.

involve highly unsustainable practices such as the use of wild fish as feed and high energy consumption of the facility.

Speaking on behalf of the team of Legal Natura legal experts who examined the documents, lawyer, Maria Angeles López Lax, said: “Nueva Pescanova’s environmental report was inadequate, lacking basic information to allow the Government to assess the impact of the farm on the environment and public health. It’s up to the company to prove that the farm would not impact on protected species or risk public health before permission can be granted, yet the company has failed to address even the most basic of these concerns.”

Octopuses are unique, intelligent, naturally solitary creatures who are not suited to the overcrowded conditions that are typical of factory farms. This would increase aggression and can ultimately lead to cannibalism. They are also carnivorous, meaning they need to be fed wild fish in captivity, an unsustainable practice that would put extra pressure on already overexploited fish populations. 

Compassion in World Farming launched its report Octopus Farming: A Recipe for Disaster in 2021 revealing scientific evidence that octopus farming would be both cruel and environmentally damaging. A year ago, Compassion and Eurogroup for Animals launched Uncovering the Horrific Reality of Octopus Farming – its joint response to Nueva Pescanova’s plans to farm around one million of these intelligent, unique animals in an aquatic factory farm annually. 

On World Octopus Day last year (8 October), 75 NGOs, experts and public figures, led by Compassion and Eurogroup for Animals, wrote to the Canary Islands Government urging it to reject the plans. Thousands of supporters also took action, urging the President of the community to stop the octopus farm.

It is unjustifiable to introduce this new type of factory farming, as climate scientists warn of the urgent need to change our food systems and evolve our diets to become more sustainable. We deserve better than continued environmental devastation to fill corporate pockets, and these incredible animals deserve better than lives diminished to confinement and suffering.

Keri Tietge, Aquatic Animals Policy Officer, Eurogroup for Animals

 Not only would this octopus farm cause cruelty to these naturally solitary and intelligent animals and be environmentally unsustainable, it’s also hypocritical for Nueva Pescanova to push plans that contradict their own corporate sustainability claims.

Dr Elena Lara, a marine biologist and Senior Research Manager, Compassion in World Farming,

Our society should be in a moment of progress towards a more empathetic and compassionate treatment of animals. If this aberration continues, despite the rejection of the scientific community and a large part of society, we will be facing a serious rupture of these values.

Cristina Ibáñez, Campaign Coordinator, AnimaNaturalis

The NGOs are calling on supporters to tag Nueva Pescanova on social media urging them to immediately stop their plans to build the octopus farm. 

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

Eyewitness account: I followed lambs being transported across Italy. By Susanna Blattner – Veterinarian.

5 April 2024

Essere Animali

Animals Angels

Farm Animals Programme Officer, Susanna Blattner, was recently invited by our member Essere Animali to follow trucks transporting lambs across Italy. The purpose of the investigation was to monitor any legal violations to the animals, intervening where possible, and to record firsthand the experiences of these lambs to show where the current Transport Regulation is falling dramatically short of protecting their welfare. This is her account of her experience.

As a veterinarian with experience in slaughterhouses, I thought I was ready for this experience. I arrived on the day of the investigation prepared; I reviewed European regulations until I could cite the most common breach articles from memory. I studied Italian regulations, legislative decrees, previous investigations, watched hours of videos, and talked to several colleagues to prepare myself as best as I could.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Theory doesn’t prepare you for certain things, and from this experience, I return even angrier and sadder but with a greater awareness of the importance of my role in Brussels.

The days were organised like this: wake up at 4am, head to a service station in Friuli, near the border with Slovenia, and wait in the car until a truck containing lambs arrived (sometimes they stopped at the service station) to follow and monitor it. In case of obvious irregularities, call the police and report any problems.

I expected long hours of waiting, but instead, the trucks kept coming. Sometimes I could even hear the lambs bleating from tens of metres away, and every truck spotted with a Hungarian or Romanian licence plate was a blow to the heart.

Their bleating was persistent. I still have it in my ears.

The times when the trucks stopped at a service station and I had the opportunity to inspect them were devastating. The trucks were overcrowded, the lambs touching the upper shelf with their heads, unable to drink. When I stroked them, they searched for me insistently, as if they understood that I was there for them.

Essere Animali

Their bleating was persistent; I still have it in my ears. One morning, we followed a truck from Friuli to Emilia Romagna – four hours of pursuit during which even on the highway, with the windows closed, I could hear their lament.

One of the things that struck me the most was my complete helplessness. I met police officers with big hearts who, when I explained that I was a veterinarian, listened to me and called Italian colleagues to try to do something for the welfare of those poor animals and penalise the people who had allowed such cruelties. I met veterinarians who worked with heart, and above all professionalism, ready to meticulously inspect every truck and penalise every minor infringement, with tearful eyes. But I also encountered police officers who accused me of wasting their time for “such a thing”, and veterinarians who laughed in my face because I wasn’t in touch with reality and it made no sense to fine a truck for “so little.” The “so little” were more than 800 lambs on a truck without adequate safety measures and devices for drinking.

A stronger Transport Regulation will be the key to changing the sad state of live animal transport.

However, what troubled me the most was the impossibility of protecting the animals being transported due to endless bureaucratic loopholes: the grey areas of the current transport law, that allow transporters to do things without considering animal welfare at all, the inability of law enforcement to impose adequate penalties, and so on. 

But there was something that gave me a glimmer of hope – the people I met during this experience.

The petrol station attendant who, while we waited at the service station for the arrival of the veterinarians, brought us a bowl to give water to the lambs.

The clerk who, when he realised what we were doing, showed us videos of other atrocities done to animals that he had managed to film.

The travellers who, when they arrived at the service stations, came to ask us what was happening to the animals, and upon our explanation, realised the cruelty of this practice.

The television journalist who was with me all day to film the events, and at the end said to me, “But how can I still eat these little animals now?”

It was a strong, bittersweet experience, one that would be very challenging to repeat due to the physical and emotional fatigue it incurred, but one I will never forget either. I am now even more motivated to work hard, and fight to protect the millions of animals transported every year.

It’s critical the European Commission takes its revision to the Transport Regulation seriously, creating species-specific rules across the sector that robustly protect the welfare of all animals involved.

Regards Mark

Animals Angels

Related:

Italy: The Disgusting Suffering On Innocent Sentients To Produce An Easter Roast.
Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

Scotland: NOT Fast Enough ! – Scotland Proposes UK’s First Ban On Cage Laying Hens. 10 More Years Of Suffering (For Hens, And Us, With The Scottish Political System !)

….. how about now and not in another 10 years ?

Scotland proposes UK’s first ban on caging laying hens – BBC News

From the BBC

Scotland proposes UK’s first ban on caging laying hens

Scotland could become the first part of the UK to ban egg companies from keeping chickens in cages.

The Scottish government has announced a new consultation on outlawing the use of cages to house hens involved in egg production.

Consultation on laying hens – gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Agriculture minister Jim Fairlie said if it was implemented Scotland would be “leading the way in improving the welfare of animals”.

The use of battery cages for birds was banned in the UK in 2012.

But there are still more than 1.1m chickens in Scotland kept in “enriched cages”, which provide birds with more room to nest, roost and scratch than the smaller battery cages.

Caged animal farming: EU aims to end practice by 2027

A survey in 2020 found that almost nine out of 10 people (88%) in the UK believed that using cages in farming was cruel.

And more than three quarters (77%) supported a complete ban on their use.

The Scottish government’s preference is for a ban on the installation of new cages from 2033, followed by a complete ban on keeping birds in enriched cages from 2034.

Ministers believe this option “most effectively balances improvements in bird welfare and ensures sustainability for the laying hen sector”.

But the consultation also seeks views on banning the use of enriched cages from 2030.

And it proposes a non-regulatory option, which would see shops and caterers commit to stop selling and using eggs from birds kept in enriched cages by 2034.

‘Significant progress’

Mr Fairlie said the Scottish government’s most recent programme for government had included commitments “to improve the welfare of laying hens to ensure their confinement does not negatively impact their normal behaviours”.

He added: “Significant progress has already been made in recognising the importance of animal welfare – both in government policies and the demand from the public in the choice they make when shopping.

“If implemented, the ban would be another example of Scotland leading the way in improving the welfare of animals by being the first UK nation to ban the practice.”

The minister said the European Union had put forward legislation to prohibit using cages for all farmed livestock, with Luxembourg and Austria already banning them and others phasing them out.

And he said the Scottish government would also call for evidence, in due course, on the use of cages in the gamebird, quail egg and meat sectors.

Mark Borthwick, World Animal Protection policy manager, welcomed the news and said: “We’re pleased to see Scotland leading the way in consulting on the ban of cages for laying hens which are still in use in the UK.

“Enriched cages for laying hens will be banned in other countries including in Germany in 2025, in Czechia by 2027 and in Slovakia by 2030.

“France has banned the installation of any new cages. The UK is behind, and the other nations are slipping behind even further.

“It is time to end the use of cages which restrict animals’ natural behaviours and cause great suffering.”

‘Leading the way’ ? – 10 YEARS TOO LATE ! – Regards Mark

Environmental, Farm Animals, General News

England: Activists Get Into Slaughterhouse For Pigs – Dead Pigs Left At Town Hall With Message ‘PIGNORANT Of Crimes’ – Links Given Here.

Hi all;

Am just sending out news links about this today as there is a lot going on – basically, activists got into slaughterhouse re pig killing; and dead baby piglets are left outside a town hall as a result – with the words ‘Pignorant on crime’ sprayed onto the pavement.  All to highlight the cruel and suffering endured by pigs.

Regards Mark

Dead piglets are dumped outside town hall as animal rights activists break into nearby abattoir to protest against treatment of pigs | Daily Mail Online

Protesters arrested at Cranswick Country Foods in Norfolk – BBC News

Seven held by police following animal rights protest at abattoir (msn.com)

Seven arrests made after animal rights protesters infiltrate Norfolk abattoir run by Cranswick | ITV News Anglia

Further update:

The courts and prison system are in chaos here – with everything taking far too long to send REAL criminals through the system – but if you do animal rights, you get charged within hours and it all moves on quickly – how strange !

Six charged after animal rights protest at Cranswick pig abattoir in Watton | ITV News Anglia

We say:

Farm Animals, General News, Live Transport

South Africa: Another Al Mawashi ‘Death Ship’ Expected To Ship Live Animals From East London To Middle East.

Another Al Mawashi ‘death ship’ expected to ship live animals from East London to Middle East© Provided by Cape Times

Africa –

Info – The Port of East London is located at the mouth of the Buffalo River in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It serves as the only remaining river port in the country. The port has excellent rail and road connections to regions such as the Free State, Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal. Additionally, it acts as a vital gateway connecting Africa to the global market

Animal rights groups will greet the Al Mawashi vessel when it docks at East London harbour today and document “animal exploitation”.

In East London, Ban Animal Trading South Africa will document the export and in Cape Town the Coalition to Stop Live Animal Export South Africa will protest at 123 Hertzog Boulevard on the Foreshore.

The Kuwaiti importer of livestock is expected to load live animals and transport the cargo to the Middle East.

Labelled as the “death ship”, the 44-year- old vessel is expected to be anchored at the harbour at about 8am, according to a ship tracking website.

National Council of SPCA (NSPCA) executive director Marcelle Meredith said their inspector and veterinarian travelled to the feedlot in the Eastern Cape, owned by a farming company, in preparation for the arrival of the vessel.

About 60 000 sheep, 1500 cattle and 200 goats will be loaded onto the vessel and taken to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

“They inspected the animals at the feedlot and again serious welfare concerns were identified.

On March 18 a warning was issued for shade and water to be provided for the animals and for injured animals to receive appropriate treatment. Since March 26 seven NSPCA inspectors, the veterinarian and two inspectors from King William’s Town SPCA have been at the feedlot to inspect the animals being held in preparation for loading,” said Meredith.

According to the NSPCA, their understanding was the owner of the farming company was managing the shipment for Al Mawashi to whom he rented the feedlot for the export.

Meredith said on Wednesday the inspectors encountered escalating hostility during a lawful inspection, conducted with a warrant as the company owner allegedly displayed aggressive, discourteous behaviour and demanded the inspectors leave the premises.

“The NSPCA had to request assistance from police. The NSPCA has five prosecution cases against Al Mawashi and (the owner of the farming company). The NSPCA has encountered ongoing animal abuse at this feed lot. During the June 2023 shipment, inspectors thwarted attempts to load sick, pregnant, lame, heavily horned and unshorn sheep. Inspectors further intervened when rams had their horns severed using an angle grinder causing a bloodbath and resulting in 131 rams being confiscated and the arrest of the then feedlot manager.

As a result, the NSPCA met the Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform. The department agreed guidelines for the export of animals by sea would be stringently followed for future shipments,” said Meredith.

Al Mawashi declined to comment.

Cape Times

Regards Mark

An animal abusing rust bucket that should have gone to the sea bed decades ago !