What stinks?

On Monday, a stench swept over Cape Town, South Africa. Authorities searched for the source of the smell. Was the sewer leaking?

Nope. The smell came from 19,000 cows riding in a boat.

A ship had docked in Cape Town’s harbor. It was carrying live cattle from Brazil to Iraq. Thankfully, the cows wouldn’t be sticking around. The ship just stopped in the port to pick up cattle feed.

But is that the end of the story? Not according to the National Council of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. (That long title is usually shortened to a group of letters you might recognize: SPCA. Maybe you’ve gotten a pet from an SPCA animal shelter.)

The SPCA sent a veterinary consultant aboard the ship. SPCA representatives say live animals should not travel by sea this way. The cattle had already been on the ship for two and a half weeks. Manure had built up. So had ammonia. That chemical compound in animal waste can burn lungs and eyes. The people of Cape Town could barely handle the smell. Imagine how the animals onboard felt!

Cape Town’s government agreed with the SPCA. Representatives said traveling by sea can put animals in dangerous conditions. That includes ammonia exposure, rough seas, extreme heat, and injury.

Did you know that laws govern how animals travel? In the United States, a veterinarian must approve an animal’s or herd’s health before it goes overseas.

Read Genesis 7. Do you wonder how Noah and his family managed all those animals on the ark so well?