“Let the Animals Live” set itself a goal to put an end to the Live Shipments: a cruel and arbitrary practice, that defies all logic and common sense.
As is not enough that the animal, lamb or calf, is condemned to slaughter, industry officials, with the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture, pass him through a journey of anguish, sometimes from one edge of the world to another. For long days and weeks, he is being transported by sea and land, in trucks and ships. The repeated discharge and loading are always frightening and often violent. On board, he is kept in cramped pens, wallowing in his feces and the feces of his friends. An animal that does not adapt to the food given on board may die of starvation. Others will suffer from disease and some will die. The bodies are dumped in the sea, and often washed up to the shores of our country. And for what purpose this whole journey of torments is? Just to slaughter him at the end of the road.
Live shipments began with a trickle in the late 1990s, and have been increasing ever since. By 2016, the number of animals that had arrived in Israel in live shipments had crossed the half-million mark.
Experts in animal welfare sciences and a long list of professionals who have dealt with the issue, have repeated the same recommendation, which also matches common sense: if slaughtering an animal, it should be made as close as possible to its habitat. Both for reasons of prevention of animal cruelty and for reasons of disease spreading prevention, the shipments of live animals must be converted into meat trafficking.
The shipments from Australia
Calves and lambs from Australia spend whole weeks travelling from their habitats to here – only to be slaughtered here at the end of the journey of anguish. First, they are loaded onto trucks and taken on long and exhausting journeys to Australia’s seaports. They are then transported for two to three weeks on crammed ships to the port of Eilat. On ships they suffer from contamination, overcrowding, fear, and severe suffering from traumas caused during loading and traveling.
A serious problem with these journeys is hunger— the animals do not adapt to the food served to them on the ship, which is different from the one they are used to from the time of the breeding. Hunger – combined with other stressors – weakens the animals, makes them vulnerable to disease, and even causes the death of some.
Another serious problem is the heat load, especially during the Israeli summer months, when the animals pass during the journey from Australian winter conditions, through the equatorial region to the heavy heat of the port of Eilat and the Arava. Malfunctions in the ventilation systems, or stopping the ship (whose movement is an important part of the ventilation mechanism) have already caused heavy disasters in the past.
For example, in 2014, the ship “Ocean Drover” departed Australia with a shipment of sheep and calves to Jordan and Israel. In the belly of the ship, 48,000 animals were crammed. A malfunction in the ship’s engine caused a delay in the journey, and even after the engine was repaired, it operated at a partial intensity, slowing the ship’s sailing speed, and extending the journey to 33 days (instead of two to three weeks as usual). After the food loaded on board in Australia ran out, a shipment of food from Israel was brought there. Difficulties adapting to the new food may have contributed to the high mortality recorded at the end of the journey. The reported mortality at the end of the journey was 1,795 animals. One in 25 lambs and one in 36 calves did not survive the journey.
The organization “Animals Australia” monitors the heaviest disasters in live shipments from the country, and updates on them on its website that can be seen here.
While animal protection organizations manage to document the condition of the animals until they are loaded into ships and after they are unloaded, documentation from the marine voyage itself is rare. In 2013, such information was published during a public hearing held by the Australian government regarding the rules governing the maritime transport of animals from Australia. One of the documents submitted as part of the hearing was that of veterinarian Dr Lynn Simpson, who accompanied 57 marine shipments from Australia. The report paints a very difficult picture concerning the deliveries, even when they are carried out under the supposedly strict oversight regime introduced by the Australian government. Among other things, the following points arise from the report:
- The density of animals on the ships is so high, that not all animals can lie down at the same time. The overcrowding leads to animals stepping on each other and lying on top of each other in a way that chokes the animal below.
- The pens floor is almost exposed from any covering. Animals suffer serious leg and joint injuries.
- During the journey, a thick layer of liquid secretions accumulates on the floor of the pens. The calves are wallowing in their secretions and lying in the feces of themselves and their friends. When the layer of feces that covers their bodies hardens, it impairs their body’s ability to cope with the heat loads and cool itself.
- Many animals are loaded into ships even though they are unfit for the journey. Dr. Simpson refers specifically to large calves, which collapse aboard the ship and are unable to stand, and brings difficult images of calves in this situation. She describes this situation as very familiar.
After being forced to retire from the government system, Dr. Simpson published a series of lists describing her impressions of the live shipments. To read the lists click here.
The shipments from Europe
In recent years, there has been a steep increase in live shipments from Europe to Israel – mostly from Eastern European countries, but also from Portugal.
The shipments of calves from European countries to Israel are shorter, but involve equally serious problems. First, the calves are transported by trucks to concentration points near one of the ports in the Black Sea or in the Mediterranean Sea. European organizations have documented these land transports moving on European roads in conditions of snow and freezing, without proper rest breaks and without the required supplies of food and water. Transport by truck can take many days. At European ports, European organizations have documented steep loading ramps that calves find difficult to walk on, and brutal violence against the animals.
Among the calves sent from Europe to Israel are calves that are only a few weeks old, which are particularly vulnerable to the travel woes. Calves that are clearly ill and have not received medical attention, have also been recorded.
As with ships from Australia, even in those coming from Europe, the animals are kept in harsh conditions of overcrowding and filth, wallowing in their secretions. Although these are relatively short journeys, some have the highest mortality rate. Thus, for example, according to data received by “Let the Animals Live” under the Freedom of Information Act, there are shipments in which one in 16 calves dies during the journey on the ship or short afterward, at the quarantine station. The number of bodies washed up on the country’s shores – a phenomenon we did not know before the huge increase in live shipments from Europe – also indicates the huge mortality rate.
What can we do?
“Let the Animals Live”, together with “Anonymous” association, petitioned the High Court demanding an end to live shipments. The claim in the petition is simple: each such shipment receives a permit from the Ministry of Agriculture. But if the purpose of the shipment is to provide fresh beef to the local market (a purpose that the petition does not debate whether it is appropriate or not), then this goal must be achieved by the least offensive means possible. Meat trade is a possible and proportionate alternative to live shipments. Of the two alternatives, the Ministry of Agriculture should adopt the more proportionate alternative, that is, not to approve live shipments and allow only meat imports. In addition, the petition points out that the live shipments are abuse contrary to the Animal Welfare Law, and that in order to enable them, the Ministry of Agriculture does not enforce the regulations that apply to the unloading of the animals in the ports and their transport after their arrival to Israel.
Alongside the petition, we are conducting an extensive public campaign – on the street, in the media, on the Internet and in the Knesset – demanding that the government stop the live shipments – in partnership with “Animals Australia” organization and the “Anonymous” association. As part of this campaign, the largest outdoor advertisement campaign in the history of the animal rights movement in Israel was launched in Israel, on street signs, bus stops and buses in Gush Dan and Jerusalem.
And what can each and every one of us do about it?
- Send letters to ministers and Knesset members. The best is personal letters, which you will phrase by yourself. Write briefly, politely, and express clearly and prominently your requirement to stop live shipments.
- Did you see a bus with an ad against live shipments? Take photos and share on social media!
- Follow posts and calls for action on our Facebook Page, share and attend events and demonstrations.
- Reduce meat consumption and switch to veganism. Live shipments are just one of the sides of an industry that is cruel beyond imagination. No wonder: this is what it’s like when you look at living creatures as “living meat.” Today, when we have a wealth of healthy plant food, available and at affordable prices, there is no reason to put in our bodies meat which is rich in both saturated fat and cruelty.
2015-11-10 Petition to High Court of Justice
2016-02-01 תגובה דה לוי ללא נספחים
2016-02-01 De Levy Response Without Appendages
2016-02-2 תגובה מקדמית של המדינה
2016-02-2 Preliminary Response of the State
2016-02-10 Amphy’s Response
2016-02-10 Aglei Tal Responce
2016-03-15 Tnuva’s Response
2016-03-16 Dabbah’s Response
2016-04-17 Comment on behalf of the petitioners
2017-01-02 Updated Notice
2017-01-19 Aglei Tal Responce
2017-01-19 בקשת הצטרפות של חופש לבעלי חיים בלי נספחים
2017-01-19 Request for Freedom of Animals Without Appendages
2017-01-23 תגובת דבאח להודעה המעדכנת
2017-01-23 Dabbah’s response to the updated announcement
2017-01-23 תגובת תנובה להודעה המעדכנת
2017-01-23 Tnuva’s response to the updated announcement
2017-01-23 תגובת דה לוי להודעה המעדכנת
2017-01-23 De Levy’s response to the updated announcement
2017-01-27 תגובת המדינה להודעת העדכון של העותרות
2017-01-27 The State’s Response to the Petitioners’ Update Announcement
2017-02-01 Decision
2017-02-01 Discussion Protocol
2017-06-26 הודעה מעדכנת של המדינה
2017-06-26 Updated Notice of the State
2017-07-24 Comment on behalf of the petitioners
2017-07-27 החלטה על צו על תנאי
2017-07-27 Order nisi decision
2017-08-13 הודעה מעדכנת של המדינה
2017-08-13 Updated Notice of the State
2017-09-24 Comment on behalf of the petitioners
2017-10-15 כתב תשובה דה לוי ללא נספחים
2017-10-15 De Levy’s Answer Without Appendix
2018-04-08 כתב תשובה של המדינה – משלוחים חיים
2018-04-08 State Reply – Live Shipments
2018-04-15 פרטים נוספים שהגיש דה לוי
2018-04-15 Additional details submitted by De Levy
2018-04-23 תצהיר משלים בעקבות פרטים נוספים דה לוי
2018-04-23 Supplementary Affidavit Following Additional Details De Levy
2018-05-03 תצהיר תשובה עגלי תל ואחרים
2018-05-03 Answer Affidavit Aglei Tal and others
2018-05-07 Answer Affidavit Tnuva
2018-05-10 Answer Affidavit Dabbah
2018-08-01 תצהיר משלים בעקבות פרטים נוספים מהמדינה
2018-08-01 Supplementary Affidavit following additional details from the State
2018-08-14 עתירה לבגץ – משלוחים חיים – בעקבות תחקירי אביב 2018
2018-08-14 Petition to High Court – Live Shipments – Following Spring 2018 Investigation