There are ships which carry general cargo, bulk cargo, liquid cargo, cars and there are so many varieties of ships, making marine more and more enchanting.There is not so frequently heard or seen (in our part of the world) – the livestock carriers – which as the name suggests are large ships used exclusively for transportation of animals – mostly sheep, cattle and goats.These would be purpose built new ships or vessels converted from container ships.Imagine tens of thousands of sheeps in a single place -the transportation across continents for days together would present with multiple problems of restricting their movement, providing them water, fodder and ensuring that they have enough air and do not suffer asphyxiation.
Animals most often
are transported in inhumane conditions especially when they are transported in
large numbers and when meant for consumption.The carriage is often unhealthy, unethical and barbaric.You could see many trucks transporting
chicken – huddled together in very small cages where they cannot move or even
breathe. In retail often they are tied in cycles, mopeds and other two wheelers
hanging upside down.Perhaps they
undergo severe stress and die much before they are put down for consumption. ..
.. .. and there have been accidents to carriers which had resulted in death or
severe injuries to the live cargo.They
could undergo severe trouble even when a breakdown occurs was brought out in
one of my about thevessel‘Al Messilah” with carriage of
67000 sheeps from Australia.A reference
to Australia automatically leads to the bushfires and the loss of life. It is
reported that upto 100,000 sheep were
killed in bushfires on Kangaroo Island and at least 25,000 more livestock
perished in fires on mainland Australia, farming groups have said. It is more
shocking to read that Kangaroo Island farmers ordered thousands of rounds of
ammunition to shoot animals that were critically injured in the catastrophic
bushfire that has burned through half of the island’s landmass, devastating a
significant koala population and thousands of other wildlife and killing up to
one-sixth of the sheep population.
This is
no post on the killing ! ~ but sheep surviving and cheating death twice ! - 180 sheep saved
from drowning on capsized cargo ship are spared from slaughter as they arrive
at their new home in Romania. In Nov
2019, ship ‘Queen Hind’ capsizedshortly
after leaving the Black Sea port of Midia with 14,600 sheep on board.Some reports stated that many animals had
fallen into water when the ship listed and died. The crew of 20 Syrians and one
Lebanese were rescued after the ship capsized a short way into its journey to
Saudi Arabia. Though not significant in
terms of numbers, Charity workers rescued 254 of the sheep, but dozens later
died of illness – the survivors were temporarily housed in former horse farm near
Bucharest.
MailOnline reports
that Animal rescuers saved 254 sheep from the ship after it capsized off
Romania with 14,600 sheep on board, however dozens later died of illness and
exhaustion, leaving just 180 left. Workers from animal charity Four Paws
boarded the sinking ship in October to find the animals were kept in grim
conditions. The animals however were traveling their ‘funeral voyage’ being
transported from Romania to Saudi Arabia for slaughter. Four Paws and its Romanian partner
organisation Arca gained custody of the 180 sheep after refusing to send them
to the slaughter house. The surviving animals are now living in a former horse
farm north of Bucharest.Thousands of
the sheep were not lucky and died in the
incident with footage showing the surviving sheep clambering over mounds of
lifeless bodies. Some had fallen
overboard, some presumably drowned in pools of water. The case has drawn fresh
attention to the controversial sea transport of livestock. The country's main livestock breeders and
exporters' association Acebop called for an urgent investigation in the wake of
the incident, saying it was 'shocked by the disaster'. Acebop has previously called for legal changes
that would oblige transporters to improve conditions aboard livestock carriers.
Romania joined the
EU in 2007 and is the bloc's third-largest sheep breeder and a top exporter,
primarily to Middle Eastern markets. Activists
have labelled the livestock transport vessels - about 100 of which leave Midia
every year - 'death ships', saying sheep risk being cooked alive on board
during the hot summer months. After nearly two months in limbo, the survivors
of a cargo ship disaster in the Black Sea — 180 sheep out of more than 14,000 have
been spared from being butchered.The
animal welfare organization made a bold statement stating “We didn’t save them
to be eaten by somebody,” - Though they
may be referred to as sheep, they are technically rams because they are all
males. (Females stay behind to reproduce, typically only males are shipped away to
become meat.)
The rams were
living on the farm of the exporter.Because
the exporter received insurance money for his losses, he was willing to turn
the rams over to animal welfare organizations, it was stated, yet the survivors
needed a home.A charitable person
agreed to host the animals – though he was interested in horses, he was willing
to help but was concerned on how long these sheep will remain in his farm.Given that most seem to be about a year old,
that could mean tending to them for nine to 10 more years. There are other
problems too – two rams together kept, would fight and kill each other and
problems could be aplenty with 180 of them.
Life often is cruel
and mankind presents more cruelty to other animals.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
14.1.2020.
