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Inhumane transportation of livestock

  • Publication Date | September 2, 2016
  • Document Type | Letter to the Editor
  • Programmes | Forests & Biodiversity
  • Issues | Animal Welfare
  • Tags | animal export trade, livestock transport
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August 29th commemorates the biggest live export disaster which took place in 1996  when a ship carrying  67,000 sheep on board caught fire and  disappeared in the Indian Ocean.  The ship was on route from Australia to Jordan – Australia’s biggest market for live sheep – when fire started in the engine room and  spread to the crew’s quarters, killing one of the 55 crew members, while the remaining crew abandoned ship.

This tragic incident is not the only one, for another similar incident occurred in 1980, when 40,600 sheep were lost in a fire on a ship travelling from Tasmania to Iran. 

On the Malaysian turf in February  1998,  2,400 head of livestock were stranded when they arrived from Geraldton in Western Australia on the MV Anomis.

Suddenly the agent acting for the vessel’s  owners, Agro Livestock Ltd cancelled the contract causing the vessel to be refused entry to Port Klang.  When the ship finally docked after obtaining an order from the High Court, 285 goats and 113 cattle were found to have died from exhaustion, stress and pneumonia.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) is taking stock of this very day to spotlight on  another source of animal suffering – the live transport of livestock.  It is  saddening that no attention is being paid to the millions of livestock that are transported by ship and on roads.

Livestock are seldom allowed even as much space in transport as they get in confinement husbandry.  Haulers typically try to pack as many animals into a vehicle as can be shoved aboard. The animals are kept upright by the pressure of the bodies of the other animals around them.

On board ships, their trauma worsens. Many animals routinely die because of breakdowns in ventilation systems on board the ship, bad weather and rough conditions.  Suffocation, starvation, dehydration and disease, sleep deprivation, diarrhea, heat stress, respiratory disease, trauma and motion sickness all take their toll on the animals who collapse, stay where they fall and die slowly and painfully.

Still those who die in transit can be considered lucky when compared to animals that arrived in countries with high temperatures and high humidity and for them, the beginning of a series of terrifying events.  Offloaded under inhumane and terrifying circumstances animals are thrown, driven, belted and hacked to get them under control.

Poultry are held in plastic transport cage with many birds squeezed into one cage  and stacked high in a transport truck and or lorries. With many birds inside the cage, movement is restrained until their destination at the markets. There is increased exposure to heat and sun and the amount of time spent without food and water during on longer trips, when truck stops at more markets along the way, has a breakdown or involved in accidents.

Can we as a caring society tolerate  methods of meat production that confine sentient animals in cramped, unsuitable conditions for the entire durations of their lives?   They are treated like machines that convert fodder into flesh and any innovation that results in a higher earning is liable to be adopted. 

The perception of  people towards  animals bred for agricultural purposes are merely linked to the food chain.  As such producers do not give any thought to their welfare and are ignorant to farm animal suffering.   Since farm animals are mainly reared for slaughter the importance of animal welfare tends to be overlooked.  Consumers are even less concerned with the issue and are content to remain uninformed so long as they have their meat  on the table.

Then there is  the virtual absence of laws governing the live transport of animals to safeguard animal welfare effectively on long journeys, and neither are there  laws regulating living condition, nor daily handling practices of farm animals. 

The question we put forth is whether we really allow the atrocities that exist with the export of live animals for slaughter?  Countries  should  realize that the animals we rear must remain our responsibility till death.  There is no satisfaction to be gained, and certainly no morality in not caring for the sake of commercialization.

Farm animals are meant for slaughter but still they are living creatures like dogs and cats and it is right for everyone right from the authorities to the consumers to be truly concerned for their welfare.       

S M Mohamed Idris

President

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Testimonials

Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah satu badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang telah sekian lama berjuang mempertahan kelestarian alam. Ia juga mendidik masyarakat tentang pentingnya kebersamaan dalam pemikiran dan tindakan agar alam ini dapat kita wariskan kepada generasi hadapan dalam keadaan yang elok dan terpelihara. Dalam pada itu juga SAM giat membantu golongan nelayan pantai dalam memperjuangkan hak-hak mereka sehinggalah tertubuhnya Persatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING). Nelayan pantai sepenuh masa ini dididik oleh SAM sehingga mereka mampu memainkan peranan sebagai pemimpin nelayan yang meneruskan kesinambungan memperjuangkan hak-hak nelayan pantai lainnya. Sebagai contoh SAM telah berjaya menyedarkan masyarakat nelayan keperluan menjaga hutan paya bakau untuk kebaikan hasil tangkapan nelayan itu sendiri.
Jamaluddin Mohamad Bualik
Jamaluddin Mohamad BualikPersatuan Pendidikan dan Kebajikan Jaringan Nelayan Pantai Malaysia (JARING)
During the 1980s, I used to read about the Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) in the news. After retirement, some time in 2001, while lazing around, I read news about the construction of a carbon in leach plant using sodium cyanide to extract gold in Bukit Koman. My friends and I visited CAP and we were introduced to SAM and her legal team. We discussed the details of filing a case against the gold mining company and the department of environment with Ms Meenakshi Raman and her legal team. That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between lawyers from SAM and many of us from Bukit Koman. We had many ups and downs in our struggle to shut down the gold mine that was causing a nuisance in our village. But, as a community we never gave up because SAM had our backs.
Hue Fui How
Hue Fui HowSecretary, Bukit Koman Ban Cyanide in Goldmining Action Committee (BCAC)
Sahabat Alam Malaysia adalah sebuah NGO yang memperjuangkan nasib masyarakat luar bandar khasnya. SAM menerima aduan-aduan masyarakat dan menyelesaikan masalah yang dihadapi. SAM telah mewujudkan ramai aktivis-aktivis sosial dan alam sekitar. Pada era 1980 dan 90an SAM sangat dihormati oleh masyarakat dan agensi kerajaan. Apabila media sosial menguasai maklumat maka SAM pun terkesan dan masalah masyarakat terus disalurkan dengan pelbagai cara. SAM perlu mewujudkan aktivis-aktivis pelapis yang muda untuk terus membantu masyarakat. SAM juga perlu membuat perubahan supaya banyak turun kelapangan dan jangan mengharapkan laporan media sahaja. Tingkatkan prestasi sebagaimana pada zaman kegemilangan SAM di era 80-90an.
Che Ani Mt Zain
Che Ani Mt Zain
SAM taught me the importance of social activism and the role it plays in upholding the rights of people and the protection of the environment. In my experience, SAM has never hesitated to speak up in defence of people and their environment, and has gone the extra mile to champion their rights, by helping communities take their battles to the higher ups and even to the courts.
Jessica Binwani
Jessica BinwaniPublic/Private Interest Lawyer
Semenjak kami kenal SAM, banyak pengalaman dan pengetahuan yg kami dapat. Kami telah belajar cara membuat baja asli daripada SAM. Semenjak itu, bermulalah minat kami dalam aktiviti pertanian. Dengan memperolehi kemahiran dalam membuat baja asli dan penanaman lestari, kami juga telah dapat menambahkan pendapatan sampingan kami. Ini lebih baik daripada tanah kami terbiar dan tidak diusahakan. Terima kasih SAM kerana sudi memberi bantuan dan tunjuk ajar kepada Persatuan kami.
Chedo Anak Nyuwen
Chedo Anak NyuwenPersatuan Penduduk Sg Buri, Bakong, Marudi
My journey with SAM started when her community organisers took me to the meet the paddy farmers of Kedah, connecting my growing interest in environmental law with our people who struggle to work the land in the face of pollution, replacement of traditional seeds with commercial hybrids and their accompanying chemical package of fertilisers and weedicides. I then had the honour to work with SAM in the struggle for the rights of the native communities of Sarawak, in defence of their forests from massive logging and destructive mega-projects. In every issue that SAM takes up, she combines rigorous research with the realities and voices of the communities to advocate for policies and laws that care for people and nature. From the courts to the elected legislators to policy makers and implementers and to the United Nations, SAM walks side by side with the communities in Malaysia. How can I not be inspired by the vision and passion of the generations of women and men who coalesce to form SAM?
Chee Yoke Ling
Chee Yoke Lingstudent of SAM, Executive Director of Third World Network, SAM’s sister organisation

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Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Headquarters)
No. 1, Jalan Joki, 11400 Penang,
Malaysia
Tel: +604 827 6930
Fax: +604 827 6932

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Marudi Office)
129A, First Floor,
Jalan Tuanku Taha,
P.O.Box 216,
98058 Marudi, Baram, Sarawak,
Malaysia
Tel & Fax: +6085 758 973

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