Rescued sheep from capsized Romanian ship. Photo by: FOUR PAWS/ ARCA
After weeks of extensive negotiations with authorities, FOUR PAWS and its Romanian partner, animal welfare organization ARCA, have finally received custody of the surviving 180 sheep rescued from the ship that capsized off the coast of Romania in November 2019.
Last week, FOUR PAWS and ARCA took physical custody of the sheep and transported them to a farm north of Bucharest. 180 sheep are the only survivors of a cargo shipload of over 14,000 that capsized during live transport. The sheep finally have the specialized care that they need to overcome the trauma of the shocking ordeal.
“We are happy that the Romanian authorities placed the sheep in our care and will continue cooperating with them closely. Shortly after arrival, our team on-site began to examine them and determine their future care. So far, they are mostly in good condition. Now they can rest and recover from all the suffering they’ve had to endure recently,” said Jackson Zee, Head of the Disaster Relief Unit at FOUR PAWS in a statement.
The recent ship tragedy in Romania is a reminder that, again and again, massive animal welfare problems occur during live animal transports and hundreds of thousands die as a result. EU transport regulations do not sufficiently cover basic needs of animals nor regard animal welfare as a concern.
In addition to a complete investigation and clarification of this terrible incident, FOUR PAWS calls on the EU Commission and all member states to work towards an END to live animal export. In the meantime, they need to invest in sustainable solutions that reduce the suffering of animals during live transports, such as a limitation of the transport duration of live animals to a maximum of eight hours, more unannounced checks and tougher sanctions for infringements.
For these 180 sheep, however, life is looking up. The sheep will stay at a farm in the north of Bucharest until a final decision has been made on their fate.
