Animal Transportation Standards by Nepal Government limited only on paper

The transport of live animals is still going on, violating the guidelines regulated by the Government as the instructions seem to be limited only on paper.  These voiceless creatures are being transported to the capital in huge numbers from weekly markets (Haat) from the cities near the Nepal – India border. Every day 10-15 trucks full of buffaloes make their way to the capital. Each vehicle holds around 25-30 buffaloes. However, the guidelines strictly mention that each vehicle can carry no more than 15 buffaloes while transporting to Kathmandu.  These trucks are loaded with buffaloes & have their tails & heads tied with ropes so that the animals are not able to move.

"Animal transportation standards 2056 B.S. (2nd Amendment 2064 B.S)" clearly states all the rules & guidelines that is to be followed while transporting live animals in Nepal. However, these guidelines don’t seem to be implemented since decades. Even the officials don’t seem to be familiar with the guidelines & the penalty for those who violate the guidelines.

The journey from the borders to the capital is normally around 22-24 hours where these animals go through excruciating pain & suffering until they find their way to the slaughterhouses in Kathmandu. Due to this, the quality of meat being consumed by the capital doesn’t normally meet the standard to be certified as “Good to eat meat”.

A team from Sneha’s Care, led by founder Mrs. Sneha Shrestha, investigated the situation from the start to end to find the journey to be miserable & heartbreaking spotting the conditions the animals being transported in such hazardous conditions. Shrestha states that the animals are being transported from India by local ranchers & cattlemen from India from the foot as the Supreme Court in India has banned the live transport of water buffaloes to Nepal by vehicles of any means. They are then sold at auctions at local weekly markets from where they are then transported immediately to the capital. Their heads are tied by inserting ropes through their nose & the tails are secured as well so that the animals have minimal movement. Due to this excruciating pain, the animals tend to sit which the cattlemen try to prevent by beating them inhumanely in the head with sticks as the animals can get crushed by others going under the same pain & suffering. On reaching the capital, they are then taken to warehouses from where they are taken to the nearby slaughterhouses in Kathmandu. Shrestha also claims that during the entire journey, the trucks were not stopped or penalized even in a single place.

This journey violates so many rules, from the numbers that can be transported at a time, the means of transport so that the animals are safely transported, binding the nose & tails, lack of certificate from the animal health stating the health of these animals, the time they have to spend in the warehouses before & after they are transported & so on.

The meat that comes to your table is a result of inhumane treatment of these animals whilst numerous guidelines are being violated. Why are the officials completely quiet about this? More so, why are we so silent? What good are the guidelines if they are just limited to papers?

We shot the video to highlight the tremendous suffering of water buffaloes from the Nepal-India border to Kathmandu. It shows the horrific conditions and torture that the animals face whilst being transported lengthy distances, and the inhumane treatment they face during their driving and at the slaughterhouse.

The long-distance transport of animals results in suffering and poor welfare conditions, regardless of where those animals are going to or from. We believe this kind of suffering should end immediately and strong legislation should be introduced to STOP this kind of suffering.

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