Al Mawashi South Africa, an exporter of live animals, accused the NSPCA of “peddling fake news”.
In a previous report, the NSPCA stated that the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) had advised the Eastern Cape Veterinary Services against any live animal exportation to the Middle East from May to September 2020.
The NSPCA applauded this decision and reiterated its opposition of live animal exportation. In its recent statement, the NSPCA referred to its Australian counterpart, Animals Australia, which has been lobbying against the practice for years. In 2011, they managed to persuade their government to briefly suspend the export of live animals.
The statement referred to Al Mawashi, a feedlot in the Eastern Cape, stating: “There are approximately 72 000 sheep (at the feedlot).”
According to the NSPCA, these animals were destined for a voyage to the Middle East. This concerned the animal welfare society, which has crossed swords with Al Mawashi previously, both in and out of South Africa’s courts.
In response to the press release, Meropa Communications’ JP Roodt, Al Mawashi South Africa’s spokesperson, argued that animals being exported from South Africa would not be subjected to life-threatening conditions. He also said that Al Mawashi’s exports are compliant with all South African laws.
“The South African government has already vetted our ships for safety,” he said. In considering the DALRRD’s reported advice, Roodt stressed that live export had not been banned by South Africa’s government.
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The NEWS has broached the issue with the DALRRD and has not received any feedback yet.
In its statement, the NSPCA indicated that the temperatures on the Persian Gulf (where the exported livestock are set to travel) are climbing towards 40 degrees Celsius and that Al Mawashi’s vessels were not fitted with air conditioning. The NSPCA alleged that the combination of heat and humidity inherent to these voyages could be lethal to animals.
“Many will die and those that survive will endure unimaginable suffering,” the society stated. Roodt denied these allegations.
He proceeded to label the NSPCA as peddlers of fake news. The society, in turn, denied this broad statement.
Roodt then elaborated on the differences between exporting live animals from South Africa and doing so from Australia and questioned whether the comparison was scientifically sound.
“First, the South Africa Middle East corridor is safer because of a shorter voyage duration.
“The journey between SA and the Middle East is seven days shorter with an average duration of 14 days, where the voyage from Fremantle in Australia to the Middle East is 21 days,” he said.
Roodt stated that South African Karoo temperatures are warm and argued that the Persian Gulf’s heat should, therefore, not pose such a serious risk to the animals, whereas Australia’s livestock export port has cold, wet winters, South Africa’s more moderate climate was also mentioned by Roodt, who said, “Thus, animals do not go from extreme cold to extreme heat.”
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“Scientific literature also points that the Merino sheep is well adapted to cope with heat, and that shearing animals before the voyage reduces heat stress,” he added.
Al Mawashi is a division of the Livestock Transport and Trading Company (KLTT). KLTT’s Australian subsidiary is Rural Export and Trading WA (Retwa). In a press statement issued in October 2019, Retwa, Al Mawashi’s sister company, expressed its support of the industry-led moratorium for June, July and August, as well as the science behind it.
“We continue to work with the industry on research into the best animal welfare and well-being measures to help deliver and verify good welfare outcomes on voyages,” the statement reads.
Although the statement does not address the South African position, the NSPCA referred the media to the above statement in response to Roodt questioning the science behind the NSPCA’s arguments.
“Al Mawashi and its global subsidiaries are committed to good corporate citizenship in the various global territories in which it operates. It respects the rule of law. We could not establish the authenticity of the document,” said Roodt when the NEWS inquired whether Al Mawashi South Africa agrees with the comment made by Australian subsidiary, Retwa.
“The statement that the NSPCA is peddling a misinformation war is also a broad and unsubstantiated statement,” said Grace de Lange, manager of the NSPCA Farm Animal Protection Unit.
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Article source: https://bedfordviewedenvalenews.co.za/449075/al-mawashi-comments-on-nspca-statement-about-live-export-of-animals/