Spanish authorities are set to begin slaughtering hundreds of calves that have spent months crossing the Mediterranean, a lawyer for the shippers said.
The 864 cattle to be slaughtered are aboard Karim Allah, which is docked in the Spanish port of Cartagena. It is one of two ships that left Spain in mid-December to deliver live cargo of young bulls. The second ship, Elbeik, loaded almost 1,800 cattle from Tarragona.
Elbeik, which now transports more than 1,700 cattle, also seems to be returning to Spain.
Both shipments faced problems when they were refused entry by various countries, including Turkey and Libya, due to fears that the animals had a disease called bluetongue, which causes lameness and bleeding in cattle but does not affect humans.
The disease regulations presented by Spanish officials mean that cattle cannot re-enter the EU after trying to enter Libya. The slaughter order issued to the leadership of Karim Allah, seen by The Guardian, states that Libya: “It is banned from exporting animals to the EU due to the existence, among other epizootic diseases with major impact on animals, foot and mouth disease in that state . ”
“Spanish authorities have indicated they will start killing cattle on Tuesday,” said Miquel Masramón, a lawyer representing Talia Shipping Line. Karim Allah is owned by Khalifeh Livestock Trading and managed by Talia Shipping Line, both based in Lebanon, while the cattle are owned by a third party.
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In a statement on Saturday, the agriculture ministry said that if Karim Allah did not start “isolating and slaughtering animals in accordance with applicable regulations”, the ministry would do so.
A ministry source said on Sunday that the sender had been informed that he had until Monday at noon to begin slaughter. The ministry said: “It is the responsibility of the owner, in the first instance, to isolate and slaughter the animals. He still has until the first thing tomorrow morning [Monday] to communicate its decision to the administration. ”
Both Talia Shipping Line director Majed Eid and Masramón said they would fight the decision. Their goal, they say, is to allow the cattle to heal and then find a new buyer once they have the results of blood tests for bluetongue last week.
A report by Spanish veterinarians who boarded Karim Allah last week said the captain told them of 22 deaths at sea. Nine other cattle were not counted. According to the report, 20 of the animals that died were slaughtered and thrown overboard during the voyage, citing information provided by the captain.
The report concluded that the animals suffered from the long journey and were generally in poor condition. Some did not feel well and were not suitable for transport outside the EU or could be allowed in Europe. Euthanasia would be best for their health and well-being, he concluded.
The report did not say whether the cattle had bluetongue, but noted other skin, eye and foot conditions, including alopecia, scaling, crusting and joint inflammation compatible with septic arthritis.
On Sunday, Masramón said he was trying to get a new veterinary report and hoped to get a veterinarian to board the ship and “inspect the animals and respond to the Spanish authorities’ veterinary report. The problem now is to get [vet] official approval to enter the port. ”
The second ship to return to Spain
On Saturday, the Marine Traffic tracking site showed Elbeik on the way back to Spain, bound for Cartagena.
The ship’s return to Spain was confirmed on Sunday by an email from the Cypriot government’s chief veterinary officer, Christodoulos Charalambous Pipis, who monitored Elbeik. Last week he spent several days anchored off the north coast of Cyprus, outside the port of Famagusta.
“Our information is that the ship’s captain has said that the ship will return to Spain and today I was told that it will arrive in Spain very soon,” he said. “My Spanish counterpart has already been informed by me from the first moment I obtained this information.”
At the end of last week, a source told The Guardian that of the 1,770 animals loaded, about 35 could have died and the rest were in good condition. “It’s a limousine and a charolais cross [bulls], aged between six and 12 months, “the source said.
Representatives of Karim Allah and Elbeik blamed Spanish agriculture officials for their plight, accusing them of a mistake in animal health certification that led port officials to refuse entry to ships.
The source said it was “100% sure” that the cattle on the ship did not have a blue tongue. “There was a mistake in the Spanish animal health documents. That’s how it all started. They wrote Aragon [as the cattle’s origin]. Aragon has not been relieved of oval catarrhal fever for the past 24 months. ”
The animals, he said, are not from Aragon, but from Zaragoza and Teruel, which are “150 km away from the outbreak.” [of the bluetongue areas]”, And fulfilled the requirement to come from an area without a blue tongue.
The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture previously told the Guardian that the situation of the ships had “nothing to do with the actions of the Spanish administration” and that the cattle came from blue-free areas.
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