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Spanish veterinarians decide today the fate of hundreds cows traveling stacked on top of each other in a ship, which returned to a port in the country, after months at sea, in conditions “reminiscent of hell”, as animal rights activists describe it.
According to the APE – MPE, the ship Karim Allah docked yesterday in the port of Cartagena, in the southeast of Spain, after having wandered for months through the Mediterranean Sea, looking for buyers for the 895 cows it was transporting.
Cattle have been rejected by many countries for fear of becoming infected with the bluetongue virus.
If the Spanish veterinary inspection shows that the cows are positive for the virus, they will be slaughtered immediately. Their trunks cannot be sold and the cargo will have to be destroyed. If they do not carry the virus, the cows can be sold.
The country’s agriculture ministry said it would make appropriate decisions after analyzing information from inspectors.
Two vans and a truck with an electricity generator were parked on the dock next to the ship this morning, Reuters reports.
Miguel Masramon, a lawyer representing the Talia Shipping Line, said that the ship had all the necessary certificates to transport animals and that its owners had spent more than 1 million euros to guarantee the well-being of the animals during their life. travel.
The animals were originally intended to be sold in Turkey, but authorities blocked the shipment and suspended imports of live animals from Spain, saying the cows could be infected with the bluetongue virus. Turkey did not examine the animals, but an outbreak of the virus was recently identified in the Spanish province of Huesca.
Following the rejection of the Turkish authorities, the ship became an international outcast, as several countries refused to allow it to enter their ports even to stock up on food, leaving the cows to travel for many days drinking only water.
Activists from animal rights organizations raise questions about the treatment of livestock.
“What happened to the waste that all these animals have been producing for the past two months?” “We are convinced that these are unacceptable health conditions,” Sylvia Barkero, director of the NGO Animal Equality, told Reuters.
Besides a possible source of infection, cows are likely to experience health problems due to adverse travel conditions, he said.
Thalía’s lawyer said yesterday that 15 cows had died.
It is not clear who the animals belong to. The original exporter, World Trade, says it is not responsible for the animals because it has already sold them, according to the lawyer.
