Long Distance Transport and Welfare of Farm Animals

WSPA HWC Report 36pp Text:WSPA HWC Report 36pp Text 16/1/08 10:50 Page 19NAMIBIAFRICAe cruel trade in livee replaced with a traden meat, from animalstered close to home.uthern Africa, as many asunnecessarily packedake the 2,000-y from Namibia to theuth Africa, just to bepoor conditions withoutest, many goats suffer fromd the infectious diseasee die en route and othershe dust.HORSES FROM SPAIN TO ITALYIn the European Union, thousands of liveanimals are traded in and between MemberStates each year.One little-known aspect of the trade seestens of thousands of horses transportedlive over long distances to Italy from Spainand Eastern Europe, just to be slaughteredand falsely labelled as traditional Italianhorse meat.Horses are trucked through Spain, intoFrance, and down into Italy for 36-46hours without proper rest, food or water,in temperatures often exceeding 40degrees centigrade.Police checks have regularly revealed thesuffering and cruelty involved as EU lawsrequiring horses to travel in individualstalls, with adequate rest, food and water,are routinely ignored.SHEEP FROM AUSTRALIATO THE MIDDLE EASTEvery year, Australia exports over fourmillion live sheep, over half a million cattle,and tens of thousands of goats to Asia andthe Middle East, on gruelling road and seajourneys that can last months. Tens ofthousands die on the way.On a single ship, up to 100,000 Australiansheep, raised on large isolated farms, arekept in crowded poorly lit pens, with threesheep per square metre for the entirejourney. Rarely are sick or injured animalseuthanased, or even spotted in the denselycrowded pens, their bodies only found atthe journey’s end.Yet 80% of Australian abattoirs arealready Halal-certified, and Middle Easternsupermarkets are selling these chilledmeat imports.CHICKENS SPREADINGBIRD FLU IN THAILANDMost countries in Asia do not have welfarelegislation to protect animals during transport.Chickens, with their low individualvalue, often suffer the cruellest handling.Every evening in Thailand, hundreds ofthousands of poultry suffer on the truckjourney into Bangkok. Factory farmed birdsin a pitiful condition are crammed intofilthy crates and baskets, as many as tenchickens roughly thrown into each crate,most suffering broken bones as a result.The smell of faeces is overpowering as thefrightened birds constantly defaecate.But it is not just animals who are suffering.This kind of intensive poultry productionhas helped the evolution of Avian Flu, andthere is a strong link between the movementof live animals destined for domesticand export markets, and the potentialspread of disease.BEYOND CRUELTY. BEYOND REASON. LONG DISTANCE TRANSPORT AND WELFARE OF FARM ANIMALS. 19