The war’s other victims

September 3, 2006 - 4:48 AM by Sarah

One Jerusalem brings our attention to a not-much-publicized group of victims of the recent Israel-Hezballah war: the livestock.

Not only were these animals neglected as were literally thousands of house pets, many were slaughtered when falling rockets landed directly on them. One example of this occurred in the northern Kibbutz Amir in the ‘Galilee Panhandle’. A Katyusha landed directly on a pen containing close to 100 dairy cattle, killing more than 50. “It was the worst thing I have even seen”, dairy farmer Roni Litbak was quoted as saying. “I saw cows without heads or legs; and cows literally severed into four or five pieces. Many that were still alive had to be put out of their misery. It was as if our own children had been killed. That’s how attached we are to these animals!”

Dairy livestock not physically injured have been so traumatized that many have just stopped giving milk. “It could take months, if ever, because these cows return to their normal docile selves” a veterinarian was quoted saying. And not only cattle have been affected; poultry farmers note that laying hens are much more agitated and lay at least 50% fewer eggs than they did before the war began. Many kibbutzim still depend heavily on their agriculture to earn money. This is more than the case in Galilee where shopping malls and industry are not as prevalent as in the central or southern parts of the country. At present, estimated agricultural losses, including those to damaged or destroyed crops, run more than NS 500 million (about US$ 115 million).

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