Durban - More than 70 000 sheep may not be making their way to the Middle East if a High Court interdict is granted this week to Afriforum, Gerrie Nel and the National Council of Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or the NSPCA.
The NSPCA has launched an urgent application to the Eastern Cape High Court in Grahams Town to interdict the shipment. The matter is set to be heard in the Grahamstown High Court on Friday.
This, following the live export by sea horror that took place in October 2019 where sheep were transported to the Middle East in horrendous conditions.
Advocate Gerrie Nel, head of AfriForum’s private prosecution unit, will be representing the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) on Friday.
The urgent interdict is to prevent the government from sending about 70 000 sheep to Kuwait under “dreadful circumstances”.
According to an NSPCA statement, the shipment of live sheep is being prepared for transit in Berlin, outside East London, where they claim about 70 000 live sheep are currently in a feedlot awaiting “imminent shipment”.
The statement further elaborated that a shipment of 60 000 sheep from East London on-board the Al Shuwaikh was exported by the government to Kuwait in October last year.
“This case is not only important for this shipment of sheep but for all the animals that are destined for this harrowing journey to various countries around the globe – we simply cannot allow the perpetuation and growth of this cruel and brutal trade” explained Senior Inspector Grace De Lange, manager of the NSPCA’s Farm Animal Protection Unit.