KARIM ALLAH

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Slaughtering will take five days

Slaughtering of the 900 cattle aboard the 'Karim Allah' will last until March 10 in the port of Cartagena. The operation has been delayed since the lawyer of the vessel had presented an appeal to suspend it, but the Fourth Section of the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid has announced in the afternoonof Feb 6 that it denied the suspension of the slaughter order of the calves 85% of the animals had skin conditions that could be caused by a fungal infection, and a large number of them suffered from digestive disorders and some of them could even have scabies. The slcaughter was recommended for sanitary reasons and animal welfare. The authorities plan that the port of Cartagena can recover its normal activity of export of animals on March 16, since this activity had stopped since the arrival of the 'Karim Allah'.

Slaugher has begun

The dministración General del Estado has begun the slaughter the calves aboard the 'Karim Allah' on March 6, in compliance with the community and Spanish regulations on animal welfare and health. This has been done in response to the resolution of the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) of Madrid that denied the suspension of the order to sacrifice the calves. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has taken charge of the operation, "given the lack of response to this request from those responsible for the Karim Alllah cattle." The port authorities showed up this morning to report that the animals were being disembarked which put an end to the episode that began at the beginning of last week when the ship decided to return to Cartageba after being returned by Turkey and Libya, who prohibited landing the cattle on suspicion that they had left Spain infected with bluetongue. The shipowner was against the slaughter of the cattle and preferred to try to sell them in a third country to avoid further economic losses. However, an inspection of the cattle at the end of last week by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) recommended their isolation and slaughter after more than two months on board. The inspectors determined that the state of the calves, after those two months of travel since they left the same port prevented them from undertaking a new journey for export to a third country. The operation will take about 37 hours. After suffering two and a half months of drifting through the Mediterranean, on March 5 the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid agreed to deny the suspension of the order to sacrifice the animals. The 864 surviving animals, of the 895 that left, will be slaughtered in the next few hours at the dock of the Port of Escombreras in Cartagena, complying with the order issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

Lawyers trying to avoid slaughter

The 'Elbeik' which had its scheduled arrival in Cargagena on March 8, continued to search for a new destination where to sell the animals carried on board. The ship, which left the port of Tarragona in December loaded with 1,776 cows and calves, will not return to Spain until the destination of the animals of the ship 'Karim Allah' docked in the port of Cartagena is known. The 864 cattle will be slaughtered in the coming days by order of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, after the official veterinary inspection considered that their condition, after two months on the ship, prevented them from undertaking a new trip to be exported, sold and slaughtered. Currently, the 'Elbeik' remained next to the coast of the island of Crete to load food and straw for the animals, since in Cyprus they were not allowed to dock and it was difficult for them to acquire good quality food. Due to poor weather conditions and the long journey they have endured since December, more than 50 animals have already died on board. Another cause of mortality is that the 'Elbeik' is fully loaded with animals, so they have less room to move. Meanwhile, the lawyers of the 'Karim Allah' were trying to avoid the slaughter of the animals so that they can be transported again and sold outside the EU. In the night of March 4 ends the deadline given by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for them to be slaughtered. On March 1 external veterinarians, hired by the ship, came aboard to verify the health status of the animals. Half a million Euros will be the compensation demanded by the owner of the 'Karim Allah'. The process will begin on MArch 5, once the official deadline that the administration gives to the 4 parties involved has expired: the shipping company, the cattle sellers and the exporters, both Libyan and Turkish. The shipowner's lawyer, Miguel Massramón, has insisted that 99 percent of the animals were healthy and regrets that the meat cannot be saved or commercialized. It was the only way for the Lebanese shipping company to compensate for the losses caused by the immobilization in Cartagena which the company 'Talia Shipping Line' estimates at 500,000 Euros.