The National Council of SPCA's has opened a criminal case against the Eastern Cape's Agriculture, Rural Development and Agrarian Reform department.
This follows after they approved a shipment of at least sixty thousand sheep from the East London harbour to the Middle East last month.
Council spokesperson, Grace De Lange, says the exportation came despite their campaign against the shipment of the livestock on the vessel Al Shuwaikh.
She says prior to departure, NSPCA inspectors monitored the loading process and numerous contraventions in terms of the Animals Protection Act were found.
De Lange says these include high ammonia levels on some of the enclosed decks, dirty conditions including faeces in the food and water troughs, together with other serious animal welfare concerns.
The NSPCA has now finally laid charges against the Department and the owner of the vessel in the hope to get justice.
The organization hopes to take the matter all the way to the High Court in the hope to get a complete ban on live exports.
The body said the move to initiate a lawsuit comes as Al Shuwaikh, the ship which was docked in East London, was given a clean bill of health to export thousands of sheep to Kuwait.
The NSPCA provided a report to the government on 23 September 2019, outlining the welfare concerns and foreseeable contraventions of the Animals Protection Act No 71 of 1962.
Early in October the Spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture Ayongezwa Lungisa insisted that they had done everything by the book.
