The smell of cow dung hung heavy at the harbour yesterday as thousands of head of cattle were loaded onto the livestock carrier Galloway Express to be transported to Mauritius.
Animal rights activists were again up in arms, but this time their concern was voiced over Facebook.
While in the past East London activists have gone as far as laying their bodies across roads to prevent the cattle being loaded onto these ships, there were no reports of protests at the harbour yesterday.
This is the first time Galloway Express – which arrived without fanfare at 6am and was due to leave shortly before midnight – will be carrying livestock from the East London harbour, according to Annette Rademeyer, senior inspector at the King William’s Town SPCA.
Rademeyer said 2500 cattle would face the voyage. This figure is substantially more than the usual 1500. She put this down to the fact that an Islamic festival was approaching in August, where slaughter of livestock was part of the tradition, adding that religion was usually the reason given for live transport of animals.
Dr Smaragda Louw, director of Ban Animal Trading SA, said she did not believe the “excuse” of religious reasons as the sheer number of animals transported to Mauritius from multiple countries indicated otherwise.
Rademeyer said that while the SPCA was against such shipping methods it could not stop them, and the best the organisation could do was ensure that the animals were treated and transported humanely from the East London harbour.
She confirmed that since 6am on Wednesday morning two national inspectors and one of her own had monitored the loading of the ship, and they would ensure the cattle were treated humanely and that no sick or injured ones would board.
She said the ship itself also had to be inspected as it was the first time it was being used at this harbour.
Aspects that would be checked included that correct facilities were used, there was enough water, food is stored properly and protected from salt water, correct flooring is in place, proper ventilation is present and there is enough room.
The inspector emphasised the importance of ventilation, especially when the animals are below deck, as ammonia from dung and urine can make it difficult to breathe.
Louw said she was “grateful that the SPCA checks loading” but that once the ship left the port it was impossible to know what was going on in the ship.
Sandy Taylor, of Animal Warriors East London, said: “Why is it a necessity to do this? Why put them [the cattle] through this much suffering when they can be slaughtered here?”
Taylor added that the conditions on board these ships were “appalling” with strong smells of ammonia and animals often breaking their legs. She pointed out that if the animals could be slaughtered here it would create jobs for locals.
Despite the upset from animal activists surrounding the practice of live animal shipping no protestors were present at the harbour when the Dispatch visited in the morning. This was confirmed by port spokesman Terry Taylor...