Cattle stranded on ship to be destroyed in port as second vessel returns to Spain

Spanish officials say animals must be put down after two months at sea as owners struggled to find buyer because of disease fears

• Cattle stranded on ship in Spain must be destroyed, say vets

Spanish authorities are about to begin slaughtering hundreds of calves that have spent months crisscrossing the Mediterranean, said a lawyer for the cattle shippers.

The 864 cattle due for slaughter are onboard the Karim Allah, which is docked in the Spanish port of Cartagena. It is one of two vessels that left Spain in mid-December to deliver live cargoes of young bulls. The second vessel, Elbeik, loaded almost 1,800 cattle from Tarragona.