Continuous breaches of legislation

Sea journeys

Every year thousands of young bulls are sent on gruelling sea journeys in old, rusty cargo vessels to Libya, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Israel. There are two issues here. The destination countries have appalling animal welfare standards, particularly at slaughter. Investigations by NGOs have uncovered brutal slaughter methods including stringing the animals up by a hind leg and leaving them dangling there whilst having their throat slit, fully conscious and in full view of each other. The journeys can take over two weeks, crossing choppy seas. The pens have a thin layer of saw dust and soon become heavily soiled, slippages lead to leg injuries. High levels of ammonia and increasing humidity as the journey continues lead to high levels of respiratory illness, the main cause of deaths during these journeys.

Recent shipments

Two shipments of young bulls recently left Ireland. On 10th November the Sarah M left Foynes Port for Libya with around 2,000 young bulls on board. On 16th November the Ganado Express left Greenore Port for Israel. It is a much larger vessel and carried around 3,500 bulls.

Both of these shipments hit stormy seas soon after departure. In fact, the Sarah M actually left in force 6 winds on the beaufort scale, which is in breach of the Carriage of Livestock by Sea Regulations S.I. No. 356/2016. On the second day the weather worsened, with winds increasing to 31 knots, the top end of force 7, and the Sarah M went to anchor off the west coast of France where it stayed for over 60 hours. It was stormy in the bay so it wasn’t much of a reprieve for the poor animals on board. The appearance of the vessel caused a bit of a stir locally and two articles were printed in the French press. French animal welfare NGO Welfarm was contacted and they in turn contacted the French agriculture authority to find out what was happening with this vessel.

This delay added nearly three days to an already long journey and it must have been terrifying for the animals on board. The Sarah is a small vessel with open sides. It has a roll period of less than 15 seconds meaning it will pitch and roll in high winds. Cattle are land animals and can suffer from sea sickness in the same way you and I can.

Deceased bull

Sadly, a few days after the Sarah M once more set off for Libya, a young bull washed up on a beach near to where the vessel had been at anchor. The ear tags had been removed implying the animal didn’t just somehow fall into the sea. There are strict rules around the disposal of animal carcasses and they should not be dumped like this near to coastal areas. We don’t know what happened to the poor bull or where he came from but it is somewhat coincidental that one appears after a livestock vessel is caught in a terrible storm. Only shipments from Ireland pass by this area so he can’t have come from a shipment from another country.

Repeated breaches

The Ganado Express is a much longer vessel so can cope with stronger winds. Regulations state that vessels of that size should not depart when winds of force 8 or above on the beaufort scale are predicted. However, inspections that are undertaken prior to certification (which every livestock vessel must obtain) found that the vessel was unable to demonstrate roll periods greater then 15 seconds and both the marine surveyor report and veterinary report recommend that the Ganado Express should not depart if the weather forecast predicts winds of Force 6 or greater. Again on the second day, this vessel hit winds of force 7.

Before a shipment is permitted to depart weather reports are analysed by officials from the Department of Agriculture. A 96 hour weather report must be obtained, so they know what the conditions will be like. This brings into question the point of legislation when it is clearly ignored.

Complaints submitted

EFI has submitted numerous complaints about livestock vessels leaving when sea conditions are poor. They have been repeatedly ignored, as is the legislation. The Irish Sea and Bay of Biscay are both notorious for rough, stormy seas and it is actually rare not to encounter force 6 winds. Ireland is at a geographical disadvantage, but that is no reason to compromise animal welfare. So, this time we joined forces with Welfarm, Animal Welfare Foundation, Compassion in World Farming, Eurogroup for Animals and Eyes on Animals in submitting yet another complaint.  We will be following up with a formal complaint to the European Commission if we don’t get a satisfactory response. Whilst regularly allowing shipments to depart from Ireland in high winds is in breach of Irish legislation, it is also arguably in breach of Article 3 of EC Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport that states ‘no person shall transport animals or cause animals to be transported in a way likely to cause injury or undue suffering to them.’ Given the extent of illnesses, injuries and deaths incurred during these shipments, they undoubtedly cause harm and suffering.

You can read the full letter here.