The Al Messilah ship, which was set to depart at 8pm with 65,000 sheep on board from East London harbour to the Middle East, hit a snag on Friday after “hundreds” of sheep were red-flagged by the NSPCA over health concerns.
JP Roodt, spokesperson of Al Mawashi, one of two companies involved in the trade of the animals, said the ship would sail on Saturday after 200 animals were removed from the vessel for having limps and “mild” eye infections.
“Sheep are screened by NSPCA monitors and Al Mawashi’s vet,” Roodt said. “It is normal, from a livestock farming practice, to have animals taken into hospital pans. It is an animal welfare protection measure taken jointly by the NSPCA and Al Mawashi.”
A worker at the East London port, who asked not to be named, earlier told the Dispatch: “Their agent had asked for an 8pm sail-off time but it doesn’t look like it is going to happen because there is a problem. They hit a stumbling block.”
NSPCA spokesperson Meg Wilson said: “The inspection of the ship was done this morning. We were monitoring the loading of the animals at the harbour and at the feed lot since they started loading. There have been quite a number of animals that have been pulled from getting loaded due to health concerns.”
The animals were taken out into hospital pans at the Berlin feed lot, said Wilson. By 10am on Friday, she confirmed that 40,000 sheep had been loaded.
Some of the sheep were being taken to Oman and Kuwait, said Ban Live Animal Export advocate Dr Smaradga Louw.
The Ban Live Animal export group raised a concern that strict border controls due to Covid-19 could create more problems if a lockdown was ordered as 65,000 sheep may find themselves drifting on the open sea until curbs are lifted.
Louw said: “One of the problems is the borders and the ports may be open at the moment, but we don’t know because everything is changing hour by hour. So we don’t know what the ports are going to be like by next week, Friday.”
Ifula Livestock, the other company involved in sending the sheep to the Middle East, pointed to the track record of the company.
Ifula Livestock director Prince Sivile Mabandla said: “We started exporting livestock from East London to neighbouring countries like Zimbabwe in 2011 after we realised the Eastern Cape is vibrant with world-class, quality livestock and a proven track record of livestock farming.
“Yet until recently we have unfairly remained isolated from global markets. We are finalising our export permits into other markets, including China and [the rest of] the African continent.”
At the time of writing all parties involved, including the NSPCA, Ban Animal Export picketers and the vessel owners, were at the Berlin feed lot.
NSPCA rescues 200 sick sheep from ship, delays departure
Image: Sini Majangaza
Image: Sini Majangaza
The Al Messilah ship, which was set to depart at 8pm with 65,000 sheep on board from East London harbour to the Middle East, hit a snag on Friday after “hundreds” of sheep were red-flagged by the NSPCA over health concerns.
JP Roodt, spokesperson of Al Mawashi, one of two companies involved in the trade of the animals, said the ship would sail on Saturday after 200 animals were removed from the vessel for having limps and “mild” eye infections.
“Sheep are screened by NSPCA monitors and Al Mawashi’s vet,” Roodt said. “It is normal, from a livestock farming practice, to have animals taken into hospital pans. It is an animal welfare protection measure taken jointly by the NSPCA and Al Mawashi.”
A worker at the East London port, who asked not to be named, earlier told the Dispatch: “Their agent had asked for an 8pm sail-off time but it doesn’t look like it is going to happen because there is a problem. They hit a stumbling block.”
NSPCA spokesperson Meg Wilson said: “The inspection of the ship was done this morning. We were monitoring the loading of the animals at the harbour and at the feed lot since they started loading. There have been quite a number of animals that have been pulled from getting loaded due to health concerns.”
The animals were taken out into hospital pans at the Berlin feed lot, said Wilson. By 10am on Friday, she confirmed that 40,000 sheep had been loaded.
Some of the sheep were being taken to Oman and Kuwait, said Ban Live Animal Export advocate Dr Smaradga Louw.
The Ban Live Animal export group raised a concern that strict border controls due to Covid-19 could create more problems if a lockdown was ordered as 65,000 sheep may find themselves drifting on the open sea until curbs are lifted.
Louw said: “One of the problems is the borders and the ports may be open at the moment, but we don’t know because everything is changing hour by hour. So we don’t know what the ports are going to be like by next week, Friday.”
Ifula Livestock, the other company involved in sending the sheep to the Middle East, pointed to the track record of the company.
Ifula Livestock director Prince Sivile Mabandla said: “We started exporting livestock from East London to neighbouring countries like Zimbabwe in 2011 after we realised the Eastern Cape is vibrant with world-class, quality livestock and a proven track record of livestock farming.
“Yet until recently we have unfairly remained isolated from global markets. We are finalising our export permits into other markets, including China and [the rest of] the African continent.”
At the time of writing all parties involved, including the NSPCA, Ban Animal Export picketers and the vessel owners, were at the Berlin feed lot.
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