NGO for animals’ rights asks for inquiry on the death of sheep as ship sinks in Midia Port

Animals International Romania, an NGO established to save animals has slammed the sinking of a ship loaded with sheep in the Black Sea, not far from Port Midia Navodari in Romania.

A ships loaded with 14,000 sheep has sunk on Saturday night, with the social activists saying the dead animals are floating in the sea and that there was no rescue operation on Monday.

“We are suspecting an overload of the ship”, said the NGO director, Gabriel Paun, underlining that this tragedy could have been prevented if Romania had exported meat and not live animals. “Now, thousands of dead bodies are floating in the sea“, he added.

The NGO has asked a joint inquiry by the Agriculture and Transport ministries, to find who’s to blame in this case.

The sheep load should have reached Saudi Arabia.

Animals International Romania also says it has photos depicting the ordeal which the sheep had to go through before drowning. “The ship has been abandoned last night, with no rescue operation in place to save the poor animals“, Paun said.

In his turn, USR senator Vlad Alexandrescu has asked for these animal transports to cease, as the Arab states don’t comply with any standards to protect the animals. He said Romania risks sanctions from the European Union for the live animal shipments are breaking the EU rules on protection of animals during consignment.

This summer, EC has urged former Agriculture minister Petre Daea to stop a shipment of 70,000 sheep from Romania to the Persian Gulf, claiming the animals’ welfare.