GLOBAL EMERGENCY RESPONSE MEASURES COVID_19 GLOBAL PANDEMIC

Covid-19 has cost the world economy 11.7 Trillion Dollars in 20203 while the World Economic Forum has stated that fighting Covid-19 might cost five hundred times as much as pandemic prevention measures4.

At the onset of the global pandemic, given the scientific evidence and concern that the wildlife trade and wildlife breeding pose the risk of spreading significantly dangerous zoonotic diseases, the EMS Foundation sent letters to the Minister of the Environment, Forestry and Fisheries and the Minister of Health and Welfare highlighting their growing concern with regard to the captive big cat breeding industry and the risks associated with the proposed wildlife breeding industry in the agricultural sector.

The EMS Foundation is therefore also concerned that the current proposed amendments to the Animal Improvement Act and the Meat Safety Act and the Draft Animal Welfare Bill seem to indicate the facilitate further, farming, breeding and trade in wild animals.

This also despite recent Constitutional Court and High Court judgments that not only elevated the welfare and protection of non-human animals to a constitutional concern, but also significantly related their welfare and protection to biodiversity and the constitutional right to have the “environment protected … through legislative and other means” in section 24 of the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court emphasised that constitutional values dictate a more caring attitude towards fellow humans, animals and the environment in general and that this obligation was especially pertinent because of South Africa’s history. Of particular interest is that the Constitutional Court held that:

The rationale behind protecting non-human animal welfare has shifted from merely safeguarding the moral status of humans to placing intrinsic value on animals as individuals.
Non-human animals are sentient beings capable of suffering and experiencing pain.
Non-human animals are worthy of protection.
Guardianship of the interests of non-human animals reflects constitutional values andthe interests of society at large.
The protection of non-human animals safeguards the moral status of humans and thedegeneration of human values.

The WHO/OIE/UNEP guidance document particularly calls on national governments to minimise human health risks by paying attention to and promoting higher animal welfare standards.

The EMS Foundation is seeking the South African government’s assurance that the extraordinary emergency measures highlighted by WHO- OIE-UNEP will be implemented.

In light of the emergency measures proposed by the WHO-OIE-UNEP the short-term solution would be to:

Place an immediate moratorium on the issuing of new permits for the export of live wildlife from South Africa.
Place a moratorium on the issuing of new permits for the breeding, keeping and trading of wild animals and their parts for trade and consumption.

https://www.businesstoday.in/current/world/global-cost-of-coronavirus-this-is-how-much-covid19-pandemic-has-cost-the-world-economy/story/425100.html

Image Credit:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/health/covid-mink-mutation.html

IMAGE CREDIT: SAAV (Baboons rescued from the wild life trade in South Africa)