Long Distance Transport & Welfare of Farm Animals

[Guest guest]

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, December 2008:

 

 

Long Distance Transport & Welfare of Farm Animals

Edited by Michael C. Appleby, Victoria Cussen,

Leah Garcés, Lasley A. Lambert & Jacy Turner

CABI Publishing (2001 Evans Road, Cary, NC

27513), 2008. 450 pages, hardcover, $150.

 

 

" Most people interested in animal welfare

would agree that transporting livestock destined

for slaughter across either an ocean or a

continent is a practice that should be

discontinued, " writes Colorado State University

animal science professor Temple Grandin in her

foreword to Long Distance Transport & Welfare of

Farm Animals.

" Shipping the chilled or frozen meat and

processing the animals in the region of origin

would improve welfare and reduce stress, "

Grandlin opines.

Long Distance Transport & Welfare of Farm

Animals collects papers by 23 leading experts.

About half are staff or consultants for animal

welfare groups. The rest work in academic

support of the livestock industry. Together they

assess the status of animal welfare in animal

transport by region.

Though each region presents a somewhat

different context, the basic problems of

overcrowding, rough handling, and ill effects

from long rides without rest are essentially the

same in all parts of the world.

Grandin points out that while most harm

to livestock in transport originates with

attempts to save money, the net outcome is that

sick and injured animals cost the livestock

industry as a whole much more than the sum of

savings by corner-cutting individual farmers,

brokers, transporters, and slaughterhouses.

Long distance livestock transport in itself is

economically inefficient, but persists largely

because of insufficient investment in developing

the alternatives.

Grandin mentions 19 specific points of

conflict between short-term economic interest and

the welfare of animals in transport, each of

which might be remedied if the livestock

marketing system could be modified to share the

economic results of better animal welfare

throughout the supply chain.

In much of the world, Grandin notes,

" Transporting live animals usually requires less

capital than building and operating a slaughter

plant " --at least up front. When the cumulative

cost of transport is taken into account,

building an up-to-date slaughterhouse and

refrigeration infrastucture to distribute and

sell frozen meat would quickly pay for itself;

but the economic structure of the industry favors

tens of thousands of haulers moving millions of

live animals, instead of pooled investment and

shared returns.

The contributors to Long Distance

Transport & Welfare of Farm Animals all favor

improved legislation, but none seem to see

legislation as more than a step toward systemic

change which must be motivated by market forces

and cultural pressure.

" The European Union has more

comprehensive legislation for animal welfare

during animal transport than anywhere else in the

world. However, legislation must be adequately

enforced, " summarizes World Society for the

Protection of Animals representative Victoria

Cussen. Her essay details " A large degree of

variability in enforcement " of the European

legislation, even though Europe is a relatively

small part of the world with high public

awareness of animal welfare.

Donald Broom of the Cambridge University

Animal Welfare Information Centre points out that

what is " long " transport varies by species.

" Because poultry held in crates or drawers cannot

be effectively fed and watered during transport, "

Broom explains, " journeys [for birds] must be

considerably shorter. "

Broom is equally critical of how mammals

are usually hauled to slaughter.

" When four-legged animals are standing on

a surface subject to movement, such as a road

vehicle, " Broom points out, " they position

their feet outside the normal area under the body

in order to help them to balance. They also need

to take steps out of this normal area if

subjected to accelerations in a particular

direction. Hence, they need more space than if

standing still. "

But livestock are seldom allowed even as

much space in transport as they get in

confinement husbandry.

Instead, haulers typically try to pack

as many animals into a vehicle as can be shoved

aboard. The animals are kept upright by the

pressure of the bodies of the other animals

around them, or by nose and tail tying. Many

are injured, and injure each other.

In Broom's view, " Stocking densities

must be defined as floor area per animal of a

specified live weight. " Definitions based on

floor area per animal " are not an acceptable way

of defining floor space requirements, " Broom

believes, " since they take no account of

variation in animal weight. "

Within Long Distance Transport & Welfare

of Farm Animals, there is no disagreement with

the recommendation of the Federation of

Veterinarians of Europe that animals should be

slaughtered as near the point of production as

possible [and no opposition to slaughtering

animals in the first place], but several

contributors are skeptical that long hauls can be

abolished.

S.A. Rahman believes that religious and

cultural requirements in parts of the Middle East

will thwart attempts to replace imports of live

sheep and cattle with a frozen carcass trade,

" at least during the period of Hajj, " the

pilgrimage season, when about 25% of all

livestock slaughter in the region occurs.

However, Rahman points out, other livestock

imports could be replaced by frozen carcass trade.

" If Australia, New Zealand, and the

European Union ceased to supply the Middle East

with live animals, it would of course be

essential to ensure that this market was not

filled by imports from countries where regulation

is weaker, " Rahman writes.

Those countries might be China, or any

of several livestock-exporting nations in South

America and Africa.

African nations already supply livestock

to the Middle East in high volume, but the

commerce moves mostly overland, and is much less

visible than the multi-story livestock vessels

running back and forth from Australia and New

Zealand.

" Limited power availability plays a part

in the movement of animals, " explains Karen

Menczer in her coverage of Africa. " It is more

efficient to transport the live animal rather

than to transport meat when the potential exists

for spoilage without cold storage. "

African livestock are often still driven

to slaughter on their own feet. In parts of East

Africa, says Menczer, herds may be driven for

75 days to reach urban markets. As the

" vegetation is thorny, and water points and

pasture are scarceŠcarcasses of animals too weak

to go on, suffering from lack of water, are

frequently found on the savannah.

" Trekking is steadily decreasing due to

increased urbanization, land use conflicts, and

initiatives to encourage pastoralists to become

sedentary, " Menczer writes. " Transport by rail

is decreasing as well due to deteriorating

railway infrastructure. Transport by road is

increasing. Transport by ship occurs mainly for

export.

" In many countries in the region, "

Menczer adds, " bureaucracy and corruption

prolong already long trips, and increase

exposure to heat and sun and the amount of time

spent without food, water, and rest. Overland

trips can take seven days [along common routes]

and can be even longer if the truck stops at more

markets along the way, has a breakdown, or is

stopped at borders for incorrect permits or for

harassment. The multiplicity of control points,

taxes and fees complicate trade routesŠRough

terrain is also a problem. In some of these

countries, roads are so rutted that it is

impossible for animals to remain upright in the

vehicle. "

Laws meant to protect livestock in

transport exist in South Africa, Egypt,

Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Eritrea,

Menczer notes, but the laws are seldom enforced,

chiefly because the enforcement agencies, where

any exist, lack the resources to do much more

than make token gestures.

" By far the greatest cultural influence

on the perception and management of livestock is

the extent of poverty within the country, " says

Menczer --but she takes issue with conventional

belief about the relationship of poverty to

animal welfare.

" It is widely held, " Menczer summarizes,

" that countries which have high incidences of

poverty are unable to afford good care for

animals. However, contradicting this is the

attitude of small farmers, who are often the

poorest among the populationŠThe attitude goes

beyond simply caring for the animal because of

the price the animal will bring at market. There

is true animal husbandry involved, which

arguably takes time and money that could be

spent elsewhere. "

For example, Menczer says, " In East

Africa, where there are both Christian and

Moslem livestock producers, strong cultural

beliefs and practices influence the management of

livestock. These communities tend their animals

with a lot of care and affectionŠThis balance is

disturbed when livestock traders who treat

animals as commodities enter the

equationŠThroughout Africa, " Menczer contends,

" cattle producers have close ties to their

livestock. Once an animal is sold to middlemen,

the bond is broken. "

The issues in South America appear to be

comparable to those in Africa, according to

summaries by Carmen Gallo and Tamira Tadich,

except that South America is less politically

fragmented. As in Africa, the nations most

involved in international livestock export are

also among the most affluent, and have some

visible animal advocates--but not enough to have

much influence.

In China, points out University of

Houston professor Peter Li, the biggest problem

throughout the livestock sector may be sheer

inexperience. Globally, animal agriculture has

rapidly expanded during the past 50 years, but

in most nations the expansion has involved an

already experienced livestock industry labor pool

finding ways to raise, haul, and slaughter more

animals.

By contrast, the explosive growth of the

Chinese livestock industry has come in regions

with little history of animal agriculture, and

came initially by government directive, not by

initiative on the part of producers. Nine of

the 10 Chinese provinces now producing the most

animals were not among the top 10 as recently as

25 years ago.

Li is optimistic that the Chinese

government supports improved animal welfare as

part and parcel of continuing to build the

industry, in transport as well as in other

aspects, but believes that economic

considerations rather than actual concern for the

animals are motivating official endorsement of

improvements. --Merritt Clifton

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

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Fax: 360-579-2575

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