June 14 is Ban Live Exports International Awareness Day – a day to educate others about the cruelty of long-distance transport of farmed animals across the world.
The choice of June 14 commemorates a horrifying live export tragedy in which 13,000 sheep being transported from Romania to Somalia were killed by dehydration, starvation, and exhaustion in 2015.
Since then, millions of animals have continued to be shipped around the globe by road, rail, sea, and air in horrific conditions, including 3 million animals in the European Union alone. Cows, sheep, horses, and goats are forced to endure grueling journeys without sufficient food, water, or rest, including animals who are sick, injured, very young, and heavily pregnant.
This year, there have been some notable victories already for the animals, with New Zealand’s new legislation to ban live exports by sea and Brazil’s ban on cruel, deadly live exports for cows.
However there is still much work to be done.
Compassionate people around the world can take part in this year’s actions by signing a petition urging public officials to support a ban on live exports and by participating in a global social media “storm,” which involves sharing content, messages, videos, or any other information about the cruelty inherent in live exports on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram along with the global hashtag #BanLiveExports.
People also can take a stand for farmed animals who are shipped across the world and violently killed for food by leaving cows, chickens, pigs, and all other animals off their plates and choosing plant-based options instead.
For further information about the International Awareness Day to Ban Live Exports, visit Compassion In World Farming’s website here.
