So, hot off the press, another live ex disaster in the Middle East. About a year after from losing 4.36% of a consignment (>3000 sheep) in July 2016 due to heat stress Emmanuel Exports had another disaster: 3.76% (2400 sheep) in August 2017. Last time they were told to load industrial fans onto the Al Messilah and check their weather forecasting! Looks like the latter wasnt enough to prevent a disaster on their other ship, Al Shuwaikh. The West Australian reports that this was also due to heat stress.
BUT could this one be different? Nick Butterly in The West reports that this time WA is looking to intervene with their own investigation. Could this be the first court case since the Al Kuwait case in WA found a routine voyage to be cruel with the exporters avoiding prosecution because it was deemed to be a Federal rather than a State matter? VALE dares not hope. Australian livestock should NEVER be transported from an Australian winter to a Middle Eastern summer: 8 extreme ME disasters in 8 years...and all 8 in summer/early autumn. Check out VALE's own media release on both the Al Messilah and Al Shuwaikh disasters: http://www.vale.org.au/media.html
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They tell us that the ships are A1 and that all the old photos etc not relevant but we still have the Finola sailing. Finola was built in 1988 and at one stage in her career, when she broke down in the Middle East, one Australian AAV refused to sail any further on her and demanded to be taken off. He had to be replaced with another AAV.
And now, here she is broken again....and whilst quarantine is technically maintained, these animals, travelling back to an Australian property on Australian trucks (do they get meticulously scrubbed down after?) have been on a ship that travels OS and probably carries OS animals as well (VALE hasnt even been tracking her as we assumed she was no longer in service). This IS a risk to Australian animals whether anyone admits it or not. Its impossible to fully clean and disinfect ships and its impossible to fully clean and appropriately disinfect trucks. If there was any exotic disease being carried on this ship unloaded Australian stock put the entire Australian cattle herd at risk. Over and over again, like a cracked record, the industry tell us that the photos from experienced live export veterinarian Lynn Simpson are outdated and that the conditions onboard ships are good, even on occasion being likened to luxury cruises.
Well here is the video that tells us that Lynn Simpson's report to the ASEL Review is as relevant in 2018 as it was in 2012. Bear in mind that the major exporter involved in this shipment is one of the major exporters from Australia and that we are repeatedly told that all the exporters care deeply for the welfare of their shipboard livestock. So, here is the video from Brazil, in 2018, from the Nada, in Portugese, but the pictures tell the story: 1) space allocation here is the same or slightly more generous than that on Australian ships. YEP thats it.....no ability for all animals to lie down or move easily in a pen. Not all animals can lie down at the same time, meaning they have to take “shifts” or lie on each other causing likely injury or suffocation. 2) the fodder has a high percentage of dusty components indicating that the pellets have disintegrated. This can be unpalatable to cattle leading to shy feeding or can result in the occurrence of unusually high incidence of potentially fatal bloat. Hopefully this doesnt happen in Oz but who knows? 3) some water troughs are undrinkable and fouled with sludge from broken down pellets or pellet powder/dust washing off cattle mouths when they drink- making water undrinkable 4) evidence of animals with clear pathology (eye and limb) in general pens - were they loaded with these conditions? Perhaps loading healthy stock only happens in Australia where the caring exporters are required to do so by law. 4) interestingly and bizarrely, the amount of sawdust bedding in empty pens appears to be much more generous than on Australian voyages (cheap in Brazil?), yet even that amount is not sufficient to prevent animals being coated in faeces. This is live export, the real thing...not the sanitised industry photos. A big thank you to those in Brazil who provided this diligent footage. Amazing work. Seems as though Brazil has done what Australia dare not do.....fine the exporters for animal mistreatment...and then chuck in an environmental fine on top.
Minerva foods is being fined by the Environmental Secretariat (from Santos city) around USD $490000 for irregularities in animal transport They have also fined Minerva Food for atmospheric pollution (hmm now there's a thought for Freo Council...they could do with 660K USD!). The ship is not allowed to leave and the order is that the animals be unloaded. At this stage however, the animals all still seem to have remained on the Nada. Astounding....Australia has the best animal welfare in the world but we wont act. Brazil has shown us the way. Well the ASEL review panel has been announced and former Liberal Senator Chris Back, subject of criticism in the book Backlash (coauthored by RSPCA Chief Scientist Dr Bidda Jones) has been announced as chair. Hardly a tactful choice one would think as it will give animal welfare groups little confidence in the review process. Whats more, the review process may well span a Federal election…..and if there is a change of government, one would doubt that this highly controversial appointment would have bipartisan support.
It is interesting that the Department stated that they will be actively engaging with the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) but overlooked the very experienced and actively practising livestock veterinarians nominated by the Australian Veterinary Association. Outgoing LiveCorp chairman David Galvin recently stated that the live ex business had been particularly difficult and was hopeful that Aust cattle prices would come down. Doubt the farmers are wishing the same....and so much for the domestic and export market not competing for the same animals.
In addition, live export businesses were apparently told to "diversify or die"....we sincerely hope they dont diversify! VALE requested information under the FOI Act (1982) about the GL Kaihou disaster. 7.79% of cattle died in a preventable tragedy – the public has a right to these documents. But no…some of them have been withheld by Narelle Clegg Assistant Secretary to the Live Exports Branch of the Dept of Ag (see our wesbite: DAFF correspondence). And some of the refused documents include information provided to the government by the government accredited veterinarian (AAV) on that voyage.
Reason? It would make the veterinarian reluctant to provide information to the government in the future. Really? THAT is exactly what the government accredited veterinarian is required to do under ASEL (ie by law). But no…..one AAV has outright specified that they will be reluctant to give information to the government in the future if their voyage information is released. And the government has agreed, presumably accepting that the veterinarians are hopelessly compromised by being employed by the exporters. We so need independent veterinarians – this is the strongest hard-fact-evidence yet! A government official sent to inspect Bader III as it prepared to leave with sheep for the Middle East last week was reportedly blocked from boarding because the vessel was under Federal jurisdiction. Was the official an animal welfare inspector? From the WA Livestock Compliance Unit (LCU)? If so, how very concerning.
According to the WA Ag Dept (technically the Dept of Primary Industries and Regional Development) website, the LCU's enforcement and compliance responsibilities under the WA Animal Welfare Act 2002 Act relate to commercial livestock and include "animal welfare monitoring at livestock aggregation points across all levels of the livestock supply chain (for example, saleyards, feedlots, abattoirs, knackeries and ports)". Maybe not? Regardless of legalities, if the official was a LCU inspector then such action would raise the question of why the exporters didnt want to co-operate. According to ALEC, the industry needs a social licence to operate...and according to ALEC, welfare on ships is top notch. So, surely any exporter would throw the red carpet down the gangplank for a state government inspector so they could proudly display their exemplary animal welfare. Ah its such a transparent industry. Sam Worrad, a journalist from The Veterinarian took up VALE's media release on the Bison Express disaster with the government and got the response that there is now a new assessment protocol: “Consignments where such a large number of animals are rejected are referred to a senior veterinary officer to consider whether the consignment should be stopped”.
Interesting – there was no mention of this possible action in Reports 61 or 64 (similar fiasco)….could this be due to VALE pointing out the bleedingly obvious in our media release???? Well for all of those who would have assumed that holes in the decks and bulkheads, wastage of the supporting structure, multiple issues with electrical cabling and an unserviceable generator (as reported in The West) would take quite some time to repair, apparently that is not the case. A mere 8-9 days after the ACCL was revoked for Al Messilah she is back in Berth 1 loading sheep. WOW...a pretty slick repair team obviously operating in Freo Port.
One cant help thinking back to the tragedy of the Danny F II with its corrosion issues that ultimately led to AMSA revoking its licence permanently and contributed to its sinking with loss of all livestock (from Uruguay), the captain and numerous crew, including one very respected Australian stockman. Presumably AMSA are satisfied with the current state of the Al Messilah because we know they have acted appropriately and diligently on previous occasions. We hope so anyhow, for the sake of all crew and the stock onboard. |
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