Something stinks in Cape Town.
Authorities in the South African capital are looking into an “unimaginable” foul stench that has enveloped the port city.
Officials searched high and low for the source of the stench, likened to raw sewage, before confirming it was a ship docked in the harbor carrying 19,000 live cattle from Brazil to Iraq.
Animal welfare groups say the stench is a sign of substandard conditions the animals have had to endure over their two-and-a-half-week journey, due to the buildup of feces and ammonia, the SPCA said in a statement obtained by the Guardian.
“Live export, as evidenced by this situation, exposes animals to perilous conditions such as dangerous levels of ammonia, rough seas, extreme heat stress, injuries, dirty environments, exhaustion, and even death,” South Africa’s Democratic Alliance political party, which governs Cape Town, said in a separate statement.