Animal welfare groups say smell from the build-up of faeces and ammonia on the ship are indicative of the conditions animals endure

Authorities in Cape Town have launched an investigation after a foul stench swept over the South African city.

Officials inspected sewage facilities for leaks and an environmental health team was activated before the source of the smell was discovered: a ship docked in the harbour carrying 19,000 live cattle from Brazil to Iraq.

Zahid Badroodien, the official in the mayor’s office in charge of water and sanitation, wrote on social media that investigators had confirmed the source of the “sewage smell blanketing parts of the city” was the cattle ship.

Animal welfare groups said the “unimaginable” stench indicated the conditions the animals faced on the vessel, and criticised the practice of live exports.

  • mozz
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    189 months ago

    Wait until they learn what it’s like in the places the cows live normally 😢🐮

    • @[email protected]
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      189 months ago

      It’s far nicer. I’d much rather muck stalls on an actual farm than after a cattle ship, where they’ve been in the same tiny stall for who knows how long.

      • mozz
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        179 months ago

        in the same tiny stall for who knows how long

        I have bad news for you about modern industrial cattle farming

        • @[email protected]
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          129 months ago

          Yes, but that’s not where cows live normally (though I suppose it depends on your definition of “normal”, personally I don’t consider factory farms as normal).