21. September 2022

800 young bulls stranded in the Mediterranean Sea. Is their emergency killing now imminent?

Recordings from our investigations: Animals are being loaded on the vessel NADER-A in a European export port.

Almost three weeks ago, the animals were shipped from France to Algeria. There, the unloading of the animals was refused due to a bureaucratic problem. Since then, the bulls have been wandering the Mediterranean, penned up on a 45-year-old junk ship, the Nader-A. Up until now we do not know how many animals are still alive. We suspect that the exporters have so far tried to sell the surviving animals to another country. Since the ship is now heading for France again, the animals there could face emergency killing. Because as soon as the animals leave the EU, there is no turning back for them. Working contingency plans? none. So far there are only two scenarios for the animals on the Nader-A: emergency killing in the port of origin in France, or resale of the animals with subsequent slaughter in the buyer's country outside the EU.

The Nader-A case is not an isolated case. As recently as 2021, almost 2,500 animals had to be killed on the ships Karim Allah and Elbeik. Here, too, the reason was bureaucratic failure by the authorities. Together with partnered animal protection organisations we are trying to find a solution for the 800 animals. In a joint letter, we call on EU Commissioner Stella Kyriakides to take responsibility for the animal lives on the Nader-A and to make an exception allow the animals to be re-imported to France. 

Read our joint letter to the commissioner here