Sir, - This is how one of your correspondents from Waterford described sick cattle on board ship: "They are ruminants and digest their food by fermentation. When they are exposed to extreme motion, the fermentation increases and the gas production in their stomachs becomes excessive, resulting in the condition known as bloat. The whole abdomen becomes grossly extended; they suffer acute pain, falling down on the floor as they are flung around from side to side, moaning and groaning in agony, unable to breathe properly. . ."
That vivid picture of suffering was printed in your Letters page in 1975. Twenty-three years have elapsed. Ships today may have better stability. But neither the physiology of cattle nor the volatility of the weather has altered.
On December 19th last, a ship sailed from Greenore, Co Louth carrying a cargo of 2,000 live cattle destined for slaughter in the Lebanon. The journey was scheduled to take eight days. Twelve days after leaving Greenore, that ship docked at Beirut. None of us will quickly forget the winter winds which buffeted and battered us through the last 10 days of 1997.
Since Christmas week, two further cargos of live animals have left Ireland for Mediterranean countries. The weather continues its capricious course.
In a month when three factories have announced closures, Ireland exports potential Irish jobs. Animals could be humanely slaughtered in Irish abattoirs, with consequent employment in ancillary industries. - Yours, etc.,
Butterfield Crescent, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.