After months of wandering at sea , a ship with nearly 900 calves on board headed for Turkey returned to Spain, after also passing through Italy.

All this time, the cargo Karim Allah , flying the Lebanese flag, refueled only once and remained stationary in front of the port of Cagliari for over 10 days. All the animals will be killed .

Italy had arranged an inspection

The ship loaded with live animals was refused in Libya due to a zoonotic disease and fled to Spain before being inspected by the Italian authorities.

The Ministry of Health and some Italian organizations alerted by Animal Equality, Animal Welfare Foundation and Enpa had in fact prepared a complete official inspection , but the ship had suddenly decided to leave Italian waters.

After providing conflicting information to the various Libyan and Italian ports (it appears that the ship was originally bound for Iskenderun, Turkey) the ship Karim Allah headed back to Spain , from where she left.

The ship is currently in front of the port of Cartagena , Spain, where the Spanish authorities have indicated that they will start killing the animals: the killing has been ordered as the calves are no longer suitable for further transport .

“Blue tongue”: the infectious disease contracted by calves

In recent days, various animal protection organizations had also issued a press release to the Spanish media and launched an appeal to the government, reporting the presence of Karim Allah in front of the port of Cartagena, from where she left in December 2020 together with a ‘ another ship , the Elbeik , which also transported 1776 cattle and which is now anchored for several days in front of the island of Cyprus.

The calves of the Elbeik ship contracted a disease , the so-called “ blue tongue ”, and for this reason it was refused in all the ports in which she attempted to dock.

Karim Allah’s calves were also affected by the same disease. Blue tongue is an infectious disease of cattle but it is not a zoonosis, so it is not contagious to humans.

Calf carcasses thrown into the sea

Many of the animals were thrown overboard . According to statements by the ship’s captain, contained in a report by Spanish veterinary officials drawn up on board the Karim Allah, 22 dead animals were thrown overboard . 20 of these were first torn apart. Nine other cattle were not registered.

The report also states that the animals visited were judged to be in poor condition , due to the suffering they suffered along the journey. For this reason they have not been deemed suitable for transport. According to officials, euthanasia would be best for their health and well-being.