The bulk livestock carrier Al Messilah docked in East London earlier this week, and has caused another ‘big stink’, after similar scenes played out in Cape Town in February with the Al Kuwait vessel.

The NSPCA has been site to screen all the animals bound for the vessel, that docked in the East London Harbour on 02 April.

The Al Messilah has been loading about 60,000 sheep, 1,500 cattle and 200 goats destined for slaughter in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The vessel is expected to leave the East London harbour either late on Friday, 5 April or Saturday, 6 April.

The NSPCA has now confirmed that through veterinary laboratory testing together with visual examination, the presence of contagious ecthyma, an infectious dermatitis of sheep and goats, which is contagious to humans too, among the animals in the feedlot.

Inspectors observed lesions on the lips of numerous sheep in the feedlot, which raised suspicions of contagious ecthyma (also known as “Orf”, “Vuilbek” or by its old English name, “Scabby Mouth”).

During the course of the disease, which lasts up to four weeks, affected animals can go off feed, lose condition and may develop serious secondary infections at the lesion sites.

The NSPCA’s Jacques Peacock says there is no way of knowing how many animals may be infected – because they all appear healthy for now.

”We can, however, confirm that from the 59,700 animals that Al Mawashi wanted to load on the vessel, only approximately 51,482 will be loaded. The NSPCA diligently screened all animals and removed any compromised animals.”

He says there is a serious concern in terms of the welfare of the other animals, especially those who are not yet showing clinical signs, but who could suffer on the vessel during their three-week journey.

Shipments from Australia where the disease has been found, have been rejected by the Middle East in the past.

Should this shipment be rejected by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the South African government has confirmed with the NSPCA that South Africa will not be able to accept the returning animals.

The NSPCA says it has actively pulled animals from the feedlot that are displaying clinical signs, although the fate of those still to show clinical signs are a serious cause for concern.

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Meanwhile, a civil society organisation, Stop Live Export SA (SLESA), has added its voice to the NSPCA against live animal export.

The group held a protest on Tuesday 2 April in Cape Town’s Foreshore district to highlight the arrival of the Al Messilah in East London.

They have called on the National Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development (DALRRD) to fulfil its mandate in protecting animal welfare and ban the live export of our animals.

The organisation is planning more protests later this month as a second livestock export vessel, the Murray Express, docked in East London on Thursday 4 April, and is expected to load an undisclosed number of livestock destined for Mauritius.

This vessel will be followed by the bulk animal carrier, the Gelbray Express, which is enroute from Indonesia and is scheduled to dock in East London on Monday, 15th April.