The state comptroller's report in May revealed that the environment on these shipments were, indeed, frightful, with severely unhygienic conditions.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFlivestock(photo credit: ISRAEL AGAINST LIVE TRANSPORTS)
The Agriculture Ministry announced this past week that throughout the first half of 2020, 315,770 calves and lambs were transferred to Israel on live freight ships, 16% less than the same time in the previous year.The amount of livestock transferred to Israel in the first half of 2020, during which the coronavirus pandemic broke out, is decreased just as seven different bills were laid before the Knesset to stop livestock shipments.The move to stop these shipments was largely led by the Animals Association, which said that the country "must complete the legislative process urgently and stop the suffering of millions of animals."The goal of the bills is to ultimately end the import of livestock to Israel entirely over the course of three years."Animals are imported from Australia and Europe on prolonged maritime journeys which may take weeks," the statement regarding the bills stated. "During the journey, the animals are held in dense conditions, dwelling in their and their friends' feces, suffering from overheating, the bumpy roads, and other serious injuries. Many are sick and many do not survive."The state comptroller's report in May revealed that the environment on these shipments were, indeed, frightful, with severely unhygienic conditions."There is a public consensus that the livestock deliveries must be stopped: 86% of the public supports the bill and 60 rabbis signed a disclaimer calling for the cessation of livestock shipments," Animals Association said in a statement. "Since the bill passed a preliminary reading about a year and a half ago, over a million calves and sheep were transported to Israel in these agonizing voyages, dwelling in their excrement, injured, sick and desperate."
