Cape Town authorities initiated an inquiry on Monday after a noxious odor spread throughout the city.
Before a ship docking in the harbor carrying 19,000 live cattle from Brazil to Iraq was identified as the cause of the stench, city officials checked sewage infrastructure for leaks and dispatched an environmental health team.
Zahid Badroodien, the mayor’s office official in charge of water and sanitation, posted on the social networking site X, previously Twitter, that investigations had established that the “sewage smell blanketing parts of the city” was caused by the livestock ship.
He stated that the ship was scheduled to sail soon, much to the relief of inhabitants who had had a difficult start to their working week.
Animal welfare organizations have also expressed severe concerns about the ship.
The National Council of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals dispatched a veterinarian specialist on the ship to check the animals’ wellbeing, according to the report. The SPCA’s council expressed strong opposition to live animal export via sea.
“This smell is indicative of the awful conditions the animals endure, having already spent 2½ weeks onboard, with a build-up of feces and ammonia,” according to a statement released by the SPCA. “The stench onboard is unimaginable, yet the animals face this every single day.”
According to the Marine Traffic database, the Al Kuwait is a Kuwaiti-flagged cattle vessel measuring 190 meters (623 feet). It stopped in Cape Town to carry livestock feed, according to the SPCA.
The Democratic Alliance, which controls Cape Town, has also opposed the movement of live cattle.
“Live export, as evidenced by this situation, exposes animals to perilous conditions such as dangerous levels of ammonia, rough seas, extreme heat stress, injuries, dirty environments, exhaustion, and even death,” the group stated in a press release.
Earlier this month, a ship with over 16,000 cattle and lambs intended for the Middle East returned to Australia after being trapped at sea for over a month due to Houthi rebel strikes in the Red Sea. That ship was also investigated for cruelty, but vets discovered no substantial health and welfare concerns with the cattle.