'STOP THE BULL SHIP'

The latest campaign of the organisation Compassion in World Farming

This is the story of the short life of an Irish bull born in 2003 whose name is not known. So why not call the animal 'Tim'?

At the age of one month, and again several times later, Tim was transported to other herds and unfamiliar surroundings. He had to get accustomed to this, but one has reason to believe that he was allowed to enjoy a life without too much stress.

However, his world collapsed when, in 2004, Tim was forced to enter a truck which rumbled up to an Irish port where, with frequent use of electric goads, he was made to climb up a slippery ramp and enter a floating stable. Up to five long days passed until all of the 1200 animals had been loaded and Tim started a 12-day-voyage to Lebanon.

After about 17 to 19 days on board, Tim and the others were taken off the ship and, 15 animals at a time, cramped into trucks which transported them for many hours, without food and water and in 30 degrees heat. Photos show how his eyes bulged with horror and fear, about to enter a shut-down mode when the animals become lethargic and stop eating and ruminating.

Tim may have been brought to a lairage where he was allowed to rest for some days and regain some of the weight lost during the transport ordeal. Then the journey to his end would continue because his fate was sealed: sooner or later a rope would be fixed around one of his hind legs, the trembling animal would be hung upside down from a rail and dragged to a drain in the ground where his throat would be cut. However, even that would not mean the end of young Tim's suffering because he would have to struggle for up to long seven minutes before losing consciousness.

Are Europeans aware that, year after year, they are contributing financially to the atrocious death of Tim and hundreds of thousands unfortunate animals like him?

116,562 animals were sent to their deaths in Middle East countries (mostly Lebanon, but also Egypt) from Germany in the year 2002, and 123,431 in 2003. Other exporting countries are France, Ireland, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and now also Hungary and Romania – the distances are getting even longer!

A total of about 250,000 animals are transported each year to the Middle East, amounting to a trade volume of 100 Million Euros, subsidized by the European Union: 231 Euros were paid per exported animal during the 2004 Irish export-season.

On 6 April 2005, Compassion in World Farming, assisted by the famous actress Joanna Lumley, also well known for her love for animals, and Neil Parish, Member of the European Parliament and Conservative Spokesman on Agriculture, launched the campaign 'Stop the Bull Ship'.

In the morning, the international press was informed about the situation and a debate followed in the afternoon in the European Parliament.

Joanna Lumley said that she is furious: "These transports are neither permissible nor desirable! I want it changed. My tax-payments are not to be spent like this!"

A film, with commentary by CIWF Chief Executive Joyce D'Silva, documented in graphic details the transport and slaughter conditions*). In the video it was pointed out that the justification 'religious and cultural reasons' is not valid in this particular line of cruel trade: Masood Khawaja, president of the Halal Food Authority UK, confirmed that under such horrible slaughter conditions the meat could not even be considered as 'halal'.

MEP Neil Parish called upon his colleagues to stop this shocking waste of financial resources. He stated that, considering that the European Union is a net-importer of beef, payment of such export subsidies do not make any sense, and represent a disservice to the European as well as to the agriculture sections of Arab countries: "Animals are to be slaughtered in their country of origin. Meat is to be transported on hook, not on hoof."

He passionately asked for cross-party support to completely shut-down the EU financial tap for long-distance live transports: "Transportation time should be limited to 8 hours."

Judging by the interest and evident concern shown by politicians attending the event, the creation of a broad alliance with the aim to STOP THE BULL SHIP will only be a matter of time.

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Quotation by Henry Beston, cited by Joanna Lumley: "For animals shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of earth."

Source: Herma Caelen, animal_2000 – Correspondent Belgium

Link: *) The CD can be ordered free of charge from CIWF
Link: animal 2000
Link: STOP THE BULL SHIP