Animals rescued from illegal Bedouin market
A raid carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture in conjunction with the Israel Police and Be'er Sheva municipality saw seven people arrested for holding and selling animals in the middle of the Bedouin market; the animals were kept in suffocating conditions without food or water in the heat of the desert.
Ducks, geese, chickens, and parrots – all with their feet tied, stuffed in cages, and without food or water in the desert heat – were discovered by the Investigations and Enforcements Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Unit arrested seven people under suspicion of violating the Animal Welfare Act.
The suspects were caught following a raid conducted by the ministry of agriculture in conjunction with the Be'er Sheva municipality and Israel Police. They illegal market was in the Bedouin market in the city.
The raid began early in the morning when the illegal traders first arrived at the market. Amongst the animals found were 131 chickens, six geese, 72 pigeons, 15 rabbits, 11 parrots, 11 geese, and four turkeys. Approximately 250 animals in all were resuced from the illegal traders.
The animals themselves were kept in inhumane conditions – some of the animals had their legs tied and were carried around in burlap sacks which were strangling them, none of the animals had water, and none of them had food. Some of them were stuffed in cages so small that they were I danger of being squeezed to death.
The animals were brought to a special animal treatment facility after the raid. "Various sellers came to Be'er Sheva with live animals in order to sell them, but kept them in horrible conditions, without food or water in the heat of the desert," said Dr. Nirit Tzipori Barkai, Deputy Trustee of the Animal Welfare Act of the Ministry of Agriculture.
"We believe that it is very important to mitigate the anguished caused to animals and to protect their welfare. We view this situation and the conditions in which the animals were held with the utmost severity, especially in light of the summer heat here in the desert in Be'er Sheva. These traders were treating the animals as if they were inanimate objects," she continued.
"The ministry is continuously working to prevent harm to animals and calls on the public to report any suspected violations to the law or on any instance where they see cruelty to animals," Barkai said.
The ministry said that the raid came to a successful conclusion due to the cooperation between the Israel Police, the Be'er Sheva municipality, and the Ministry of Agriculture.
