Judge allows departure of Brazilian live cattle ship

A Brazilian judge has ruled that a ship carrying around 27,000 cattle for export in allegedly cruel conditions can leave port -- as removing the animals would cause greater suffering.
The appeals court judge made the ruling yesterday, the agriculture ministry said in a statement.
The decision overturned a lower court order the previous day for the ship to stay in Sao Paulo's Santos port and for the cattle to be removed and sent back to their original farms.
The original judge accepted reports from a vet and a group of animal rights activists that conditions aboard the ship "Nada," which is taking the live cattle for slaughter in Turkey, were badly cramped and unhygienic.

But the appeals court judge, Fabio Prieto, wrote that removing the cattle "would prov\oke greater suffering and harm to the animals than if they continue their voyage.