LIVESTOCK TRANSPORTATION
In 1981 the department of Veterinary Services reported that the cost of meat of cattle which was
condemned as unfit for human consumption and sent to by-products as a result of bruising alone, not
dead on arrival at only the 11 Abakor abattoirs amounted to 10 million rand. This value excluded the
loss resulting from the bruising of sheep and pigs.
After extensive research and also to garner first hand qualitative information, Dr. Levien physically also
travelled on a cattle truck from Grootfontein, in Namibia, to City Deep abattoir in Johannesburg.
LAWA then produced a code of Practice for the Handling and Transport of Livestock which was fully
accepted by the livestock industry and at their cost, was printed and circulated to every operator in the
country and was also accepted by the Department of Agriculture in Namibia.
As a result of the code, the cost of condemnations as recorded at the Abakor abattoirs at the time
dropped by 80%
This code has since been transformed into a South African Bureau of standards document SANS 1488:
2014, Humane Transportation of Livestock by Road.