Concerns about animal cruelty in transit

A section of the public has expressed concern over the cruel manner in which animals and poultry are transported to livestock markets and slaughterhouses.

They say that whipping, tail-twisting, head-turning and using sharp objects to puncture the animals when overloaded partially affect the quality of the meat.

On October 22, a truck transporting about 20 head of cattle from Nakaseke district to Kampala City suddenly stopped at Naluvule village, about 6 km from Luweero town on the Kampala-Gulu highway.

This happened after one of the animal handlers (transporter) noticed that one of the cows was gasping for air after being strangled with ropes around the neck. They had to dump the animal and slaughter it on the side of the road.

A boda boda rider who helped procure the sharp knives to skin the animal reveals that the transporters played blame games over the animal’s condition.

“These animals have not had any water for two days. We transported them over 280km from Masindi via Nakaseke District without water or food. We could lose more animals,” one of the vans was quoted as saying by the boda boda cyclist.

Mr Abdul Ssengendo, a resident of Kalerwe in Kampala City, says the animals need to be brought under control so that they can be transported easily.

“You have to twist their tails and tie them to the poles. This is a bit (wrong) because you almost cut off the blood flow and in most cases the tail turns a dark color due to the reduced blood flow, which calms the animal down,” Mr. Ssengendo further explains.

Mr Yudah Ssendagire, a butcher at Wobulenzi Town Council in Luweero District, says the animal transporters, locally called Bayana, are used to the brutal acts inflicted on the animals in transit.

“For animals that prove to be very stubborn, a sharp stick is stuck through the eye and nose. These men are heartless and use brutal means to subdue the animals. I couldn’t handle this kind of work after witnessing the brutality towards the animals,” he reveals.

In 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries drafted guidelines and standard operating procedures for the handling and transport of live animals in Uganda.

Article 39 of the Animals’ Prevention of Cruelty Act prohibits whipping animals, twisting or binding the tail, twisting or binding the head, and applying pressure to the eyes, ears and external genitals of animals, causing pain and suffering to the animals causes suffering.

Traffic police officers guarding the Kampala-Gulu and Kampala-Hoima highways say they are aware of cruel acts against animals in transit.

“We are arresting overloaded livestock transporters, but we have not yet received a circular detailing animal handling to clearly enforce animal transport guidelines. “Many of the cows have their tails twisted during transport and their heads hanging by their horns,” a traffic police officer at a roadblock on the Kampala-Gulu highway told Daily Monitor.

Dr. John Mary Gibugonyi, a retired veterinary officer, says more than 50 percent of the meat sold in city slaughterhouses is substandard and likely unsafe in part because of poor animal handling practices.

“When the animals are slaughtered, they are stressed and the meat is compromised. Animals that have been whipped, tails and heads twisted and pierced with sharp objects cannot produce safe animal products, including meat,” he says.

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Major General David Kasura Kyomukama, says poor animal transport is affecting the quality of both livestock products and the health of the animals.

“As a ministry, we have the guidelines but the problem could be in the enforcement process. The ministry does not have its own police force to enforce the guidelines. We also have the district veterinary teams to ensure that the transporters follow the set guidelines,” he says.

The government, he says, plans to build slaughterhouses and meat factories inland to reduce the transport of live animals. “Part of the livestock value chain infrastructure is built through state-private partnerships. We have a modern slaughterhouse in Migeera (Nakasongola). The revival of Soroti meat packing plants is planned in terms of infrastructure, among other things,” he added.

Statistics from the Animal Health Division of the Ministry of Agriculture for 2019 show that an estimated 436,073 live animals and 65,231 poultry were transported between and within 58 counties. The data also shows that 87.49 percent of animals transported were destined for slaughter, while 12.5 percent were destined for sale.