15,800 Sheep Drown After An Overcrowded Livestock Transport Vessel Sinks

15,800 sheep drowned in the Red Sea after a livestock ship packed full of animals sunk in the Sudan port.

Source: Middle East Eye/Youtube

The livestock transporting vessel Badr 1 was over capacity limits with 15,800 sheep on it. The capacity is only 9,000 making the ship nearly 2 times the capacity that it should have. The ship was attempting to export the animals in Saudi Arabia from the port of Suakin in Sudan when it sunk. All of the crew members survived, however, the number of dead animals is heartbreaking and could cause environmental problems for the port.

An anonymous Sudanese port official told AFP, “The sunken ship will affect the port’s operation. It will also likely have an environmental impact due to the death of the large number of animals carried by the ship.”

The sheep on the vessel were treated as commodities. The inhumane treatment and packed conditions on the ship were not ok. All of these animals had traumatizing last moments alive, and the way that we use and exploit animals needs to end.

The livestock on the ship was estimated to be worth around $4 million. 700 of the sheep were rescued, but they were very ill and not expected to live long. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that animals have died in mass numbers of livestock transporting vessels. Three years ago, another ship with nearly 15,000 sheep drowned in the Black Sea.

Sign this petition calling on the European Union to ban live animal exports!

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• Petition: Ban Live Animal Exports After Nearly 15,000 Sheep Drowned on Overcrowded Cargo Ship
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