In March 2021, 1,610 young cattle, that had supposedly been sold to the Middle East, arrived in the port of Cartagena after a three-month ordeal through the Mediterranean. This would be their final destination.

Despite Spain knowing that there was allegedly bluetongue disease in some of the animals which broke out on board a few days after the ship left, the journey went ahead and was not called back.  
As a result, the lives of the young bulls were ended prematurely. All 1,610 of them were slaughtered in the port. 

At the time, FOUR PAWS reported on this cruelty from the dock, highlighting the unbelievably horrendous cruelty. However, this is just one horrific example of why we’re demanding an immediate end to live animal exports worldwide. 

"The fact that the question even arises whether the animals can still be shipped to third countries [outside the EU] to be slaughtered there without anaesthesia under the most brutal conditions after they have had to suffer three months of hellish torture is downright perverse."  

says Dr Martina Stephany, Senior Programmes Director at FOUR PAWS. 

"…We need a drastic reduction in so-called 'animal production' and a fundamentally different understanding of how to treat animals. It must not be an option to make the animals' path to death even more difficult. Sentient beings deserve to be treated with dignity. But we are still many miles away from that." 

In May 2024, after decades of relentless campaigning, Britain banned live exporting in a historic win for animals and animal welfare campaigners. The introduction of the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill means that no British farmed animal will ever have to suffer on incomprehensibly cruel journeys like the one above. 

The UK’s decision to end this cruelty has ignited discussions in Europe about similar action, and we sincerely hope they act sooner rather than later.