Spain | Live transports by sea | Day 3: Port of Cartagena
The vessels AL FAROUK (on the left) and NABOLSI I (on the right) are docking in the port of Cartagena.
Today sheep and cattle from Portugal and Spain are being loaded onto livestock carriers. They are being exported from Europe to third countries.
Today our teams are investigating the Spanish port area of Cartagena again. Together with our partner organisations Welfarm and Animals International, we want to monitor the loading of European animals onto livestock carriers and check whether the regulation on animal welfare during transport is respected.
We see that the vessels AI FAROUK and NABOLSI I have docked in Cartagena. We observe how the NABOLSI I is being loaded with sheep. The Al FAROUK, on the other hand, is being loaded with both sheep and bulls. Most animals that we observe on this day come directly from Spain or Portugal.
Today, we observe the very unprofessional handling of animals by the employees of the consigner of the port. Since we started our investigation two days ago, almost all loadings were executed in a stressful and unprofessional manner. The unskilled workers were inappropriately using electric prods which caused chaos and unnecessary suffering. The unprofessional handling also prolonged the loadings in general. This should not happen with EU law currently in force.
We will return on the next day to observe more loadings of live animals in the port of Cartagena.
