NSPCA slams government's approach to live animal exports

THE National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) has raised its concerns as it believes the government is ‘soft-peddling’ when it comes to live exports of animals.

- ROBIN-LEE FRANCKE

On July 11, the Department of Agriculture invited public comments on the proposed Regulations for the Exportation of Live Animals by Sea, made under section 10 of the Animals Protection Act 71 of 1962. These regulations are intended to replace the existing Guidelines for the Exportation of Live Animals by Sea issued in March 2023.

According to the NSPCA, it lodged a detailed submission in outright opposition to the draft regulations. The organisation said it has consistently rejected live animal export by sea as inherently cruel and unenforceable.

It said the current draft not only fails to protect animals but it strips away critical safeguards. It carries no criminal sanctions, no administrative fines, and no enforcement mechanisms. In short, the regulations have no teeth, the NSPCA described it as “just a hollow document that protects the industry, not animals”.