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ARCHIVED - 880 cattle on Karim Allah await slaughter and Cartagena rejects the Elbeik bringing in 1800 more
Image 1; Ayto-Cartagena
Both vessels have been refused entry by Turkey and Libya due to an outbreak of Bluetongue on board
The tragic end facing the 880 head of cattle aboard the Karim Allah, currently moored in the Escombreras dock in Cartagena could be repeated, as the European Union pressurises Spain to resolve the situation aboard the Elbeik, which is also out at sea with 1,800 head of cattle on board and has also been refused permission to unload its cargo in Libya due to an outbreak of Bluetongue on board.
The Karim Allah was refused permission to unload the cattle on board in Turkey after an outbreak was confirmed and had been at sea for more than two months, trying to find a way to resolve the situation. Finally, the vessel was permitted to return to Cartagena, from where it originally sailed on December 18, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was permitted to board the vessel and carry out an inspection of the cattle on board.
On Saturday the Ministry informed the owners of the 'Karim Allah', that all of the 880 animals must be slaughtered, "in accordance with the applicable regulations”.
In a statement, the Ministry confirmed that, after the veterinary inspections carried out on February 25 and 26, the condition of the animals "prevents them from undertaking a new voyage for export to a third country ' reasoning that the livestock were technically being re-imported from Turkey, even though they had come from Spain and had never actually reached Turkish soil.
According to Law 8/2003, relating to animal welfare, the importation of live animals into EU territory from unauthorized third countries is prohibited. Both Turkey, the initial destination of the calves, and Libya, are not on the list of third countries authorized to export live animals to the European Union.
Image 2: Igualdad Animal
Although the livestock were fullycertified as being healthy and had been loaded with valid health certification when they left Spain, the outbreak of Bluetongue, which killed some of the stock whilst on board, was sufficient motive for the Turkish authorities to refuse them entry. The owner of the vessel then took them to Libya, but they were also refused entry to Libya.
Finally the EU intervened and requested that the Spanish Authorities resolve the situation, so the vessel was ordered to return to Cartagena.
The Cartagena Port Authority immediately stopped any further livestock exports from the port, pending the resolution of this situation.
The owner of the vessel, the Talia shipping Line, is naturally unhappy about permitting the slaughter of the animals, as the total value of the stock will be lost, and is attempting to obtain a stay of execution saying that the results of the blood tests are not being made available to them and that the animals, although suffering the effects of two months at sea in confined stalls, which has resulted in lesions, the formation of abscesses and weight loss, are still saleable.
The situation has attracted international media attention, for which reason containers have been used to create a visual barrier hiding the temporary structures built on the quayside in which the cattle will be slaughtered from the view of the media. At the weekend activists from the Igualdad Animal Foundation protested on the dockside in Cartagena, denouncing the lack of control and calling for a total ban on the export of live animals from Spain.
The authorities in Cartagena are deeply upset about the media coverage which has been given to the situation and the Mayoress of Cartagena, Ana Belén Castejón, has written to the Ministry requesting that the “matter” be resolved as quickly as possible so that the port can once again resume its activities exporting livestock and expressing her opposition to the Elbeik, which had originally sailed from Tarragona loaded with a further 1800 head of cattle, and is now in the same situation, docking in Cartagena.
“The vessel must return to Tarragona, from where it came. In addition, it is necessary that the suspension of boarding in Cartagena be lifted as soon as possible. Our livestock farmers and our port have been exporting livestock for more than ten years and this is the first time that such an incident has occurred. We fully trust that the Ministry will lift the suspension as soon as possible ”, she said, stating that 9 shipments of livestock from Cartagena have been suspended in the last few days because of the current situation with the Karim Allah.
Compassion in world farming says that over 3.4 million live animals are exported from the European Union to non-EU countries every year, mainly for slaughter.
Igualdad Animal has a petition which can be signed calling for an end to the export of live animals in this fashion. Click here to sign.