The slaughter of nearly 900 cattle that have been stuck on a cargo ship in the Mediterranean for two months has been postponed until Thursday.

Lawyers for the owners of the "Karim Allah" vessel delayed the process by requesting an official document authorizing the cull.

The slaughter was deemed necessary after Spanish veterinarians said the animals were no longer fit for export.

But the owners argued that the cows' ailments are treatable and they should be allowed to be transported to a place they can recover.

Responding to the plight of the cattle, rights groups on Tuesday reiterated their calls for the transport of live animals to come to an end.

Activist Amparo Marín on Tuesday called on the European Union to prohibit "these trips of terror" immediately.

Marín said the case had exposed "all the dirty laundry" about live animal transports not adhering to ruled on animal welfare regulations.

The ship set sail from the Spanish port of Cartagena on 18 December, carrying a total of 895 cattle destined for export to Turkey.

Turkish port authorities, however, refused to let them disembark, reportedly due to suspicions about their health.

After a second failed attempt to unload the cattle in Libya, the boat returned to Cartagena, where Spanish authorities ordered it to dock.

After an official inspection by government veterinarians, Spain's minister of agriculture said animals were to be killed.

Veterinarians judged them to be both unfit either for transport to another country or for their return to Spain.

Share:
More In Business
Holiday Crafts for Less
Getting crafty for the holidays to entertain guests can be pretty expensive. Cheddar News explains how you can do all of that on a budget.
Stretching Your Dollar: How to Treat Yourself for the Holidays
The holiday season is here and it could be a stressful time as people plan shopping, cooking and traveling. Sally Holmes, editor-in-chief of InStyle Magazine, joined Cheddar News to discuss a new social media trend #Treatculture that helps people take a moment to treat themselves and how that is a psychological benefit to relieve stress.
Wikipedia's Most Viewed Stories 2023
Wikipedia has released its list of most viewed articles for 2023 with the site seeing over 84 billion visits. The most searched topic was ChatGPT with nearly 50 billion page views
Load More