Israeli NGO among 36 organizations calling for global reform of live animal shipping

Groups urge International Maritime Organization to improve conditions for animals shipped for slaughter, citing threats to animal welfare, human life and marine environment

An Israeli NGO is among 36 international animal protection organizations calling on the International Maritime Organization to reform the transportation of live animals by sea for fattening and slaughter when they reach their destination.

The appeal, submitted last week but publicized on Tuesday, cited continuing threats to human life, animal welfare and the marine environment.

The IMO, responsible for global shipping regulation, counts Israel among its signatories to key conventions, including the MARPOL Convention for the prevention of marine pollution, to which Israel has been a party since 1952.

In parallel to the international appeal, Israel Against Live Shipments, led by the organization Freedom 4 Animals, has written to the Israeli Shipping and Ports Authority, urging the government to uphold its international obligations.

Since the beginning of this year, 148 shipments of live animals have arrived in Israel, carrying 600,000 animals, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

Freedom 4 Animals said that many arrived on aging vessels, such as Tuleen, already 50 years old. The ship, said the organization, was converted from a cargo vessel and was never designed to transport livestock safely.

Tuleen is one of more than 10 old vessels still in use for Israeli animal imports, some of which should have already been scrapped because of structural fatigue, the organization added.

According to the coalition of organizations, sick or dead animals are routinely dumped at sea, often without identification tags or having had their ear tags removed, in violation of international conventions.

Over the past three years, dozens of such unidentifiable animal carcasses have washed up onto Israel’s coastline.

Since 2000, at least seven live export ships have been lost at sea, the letter to the IMO noted, resulting in the deaths of dozens of crew members and tens of thousands of animals. Among the major incidents cited are the Gulf Livestock 1, Queen Hind, Danny F II, Haidar, and Al Badri. The appeal follows the most recent disaster involving the MV Spiridon II.

In September, the 52-year-old Spiridon II left Uruguay on its way to Turkey, with 2,901 calves. When it arrived over a month later, the Turkish Agriculture Ministry refused to allow unloading, claiming that 500 ear tags did not match the paperwork. On Wednesday, the ship was in Beirut, Lebanon, still with its live cargo on board. To date, 48 calves have reportedly died, and water and food supplies are running low.

Animal protection groups have long reported that live shipment animals suffer from extreme heat stress, severe overcrowding, disease, and prolonged confinement, sometimes for weeks, in waste-saturated conditions. Meanwhile, crews face unsafe working environments,  disease exposure, and serious structural hazards, including the collapse of animal decks.

New Zealand and India have banned live shipments. The United Kingdom has legislated a ban, and Australia is in the process of phasing it out.

A statement from Israel Against Live Shipments said: “Our goal is to end the madness of live shipments as quickly as possible and without delay. Until the Israeli Knesset passes a law banning live exports, we are working to improve conditions on board the ships to alleviate animal suffering and prevent unnecessary pain.”

In late 2018, the Knesset greenlit a bill in its preliminary reading to stop live transports of hundreds of thousands of lambs and calves from Australia and Europe to Israel each year for fattening and slaughter. However, a series of elections followed, and the bill never advanced.