Monday 5th February 2007

Monday 12^th February 2007<= /span>

PRESS RELEASE FROM COMPASSION IN WORLD FA= RMING - IRELAND

ANIMAL W= ELFARE GROUP OPPOSES ANY RESUMPTION OF LIVE CATTLE EXPORTS FROM IRELAND TO EGYPT

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NEW INVESTIGATION FILM FOOTAGE, RELEASED TODAY FOR FIRST TIME IN EUROPE, SHOWS = CATTLE IN EGYPT SUBJECTED TO BRUTAL HANDLING AND CRUEL SLAUGHTER

Compassion in World F= arming - Ireland (CIWF) has today called on Agriculture Minister Coughlan not to all= ow a resumption of live cattle exports to Egypt*. CIWF believes that Irish cattle sh= ould not be sent to a country where animals are brutally handled and cruelly slaughtered.

C= IWF today releases, for the first time in Europe, new film evidence of cruelty to cat= tle during transport and at slaughter in Egypt. C= IWF stresses that this is the appalling environment that awaits Irish cattle sh= ould live exports to Egypt start again. <= /span>

Description of the film footage

1. Street slaughter of cattle in Cairo, Egypt, filmed in December 2006 by Animals Australia (an organisation that CIWF works in partnership with). This new footage is released today= for the first time in Europe. It = shows: <= o:p>

§ A bull unlo= aded from the back of a truck without a ramp, falling heavily from the truck onto the road.

§ A bull has = a hind leg tendon cut through with a knife to make the animal easier to handle. The bull’s front legs are al= ready hobbled. The bull is subjecte= d to additional cruel coercion by a group of men, including twisting his tail, to move him forward to the place where he is slaughtered by having his throat = cut whilst fully conscious.

§ A bull at a= very basic ‘slaughterhouse’ has the leg tendons in his hind legs cut= to make him easier to handle before being slaughtered.

2. Cattle slaughter at Bassatin Slaughterhouse in Cairo (= this is one of the biggest slaughterhouses in Egypt), filmed by CIWF in 2004. A 2006 investigation by Animals Australia found there had been no improvement at Bassa= tin Slaughterhouse. CIWF’s footage, which has not been seen in Ireland before, shows:

§ The brutal, chaotic and bloody conditions inside Bassatin Slaughterhouse, where cattle are killed by having their throats slashed whi= lst fully conscious. Animals are = killed beside others that are bleeding to death or are dead.

§ The very sl= ow death of a bull as blood pours from his throat.

§ Another bull tries to struggle to his feet whilst “bleeding out” after having his throat cut.

§ A bull is h= eavily beaten until he drops to his knees, visibly shaking.

Mary-Anne Bartlett, Director of CIWF-Ireland, sa= ys:

“We believe that farmers in Ireland would not want to see their cattle end up in the horrific conditions shown on this film footage.&nbs= p; The new Animals Australia film shows cattle in Cairo handled and slaughtered in a cruel and brutal manner.&= nbsp; CIWF’s earlier footage shows the c= haotic bloody conditions and immensely inhumane treatment of animals in one of Egypt’s biggest slaughterhouses.

CIWF will do everythi= ng it can to ensure that Irish cattle are not shipped out to Egypt to face this t= ype of cruel treatment.

The international gui= delines on welfare at transport and slaughter agreed by the World Organisation for Animal Health (of which Egypt is a member) are routinely broken in Egypt. It is wrong for Ireland to consider sending animals to a country that fails to implement internationally agreed guidelines for the protection of animals.”

CIWF today launches a= new international campaign to stop the resumption of live cattle exports to Egypt.

*The Irish Times (2/2/07) reported that Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, announced the lif= ting of the ban on live cattle imports from Ireland into Egypt during his recent visit to Egypt. The report sa= id that formal arrangements for the lifting of the ban will now follow. The ban on live cattle imports fro= m the EU, including Ireland, was put in place by Egypt in 2000 in response to BSE. =

For further information, please contact Mary-Anne Bartlett on 021 4639038=

ENDS