Petition calls for ban on live exports

A PETITION signed by more than 7,500 people calling for an end to the long distance transport of animals, and its replacement by a trade in meat, will be handed into the Department of Agriculture and Food in Dublin today.

The animal welfare group, Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), who organised the petition, wants live exports banned. Proposed new rules for animal transport are now being discussed by EU Agriculture Council working groups and will go before the European Parliament. Ministers will make a final decision next year.

The farm lobby has warned the €200 million a year live cattle export trade from Ireland is under threat from the proposals.

Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh said some aspects of the current draft proposal are of concern from both an animal welfare perspective and the continued economic viability of the live export trade to Europe.

They include, in particular, the proposed abolition of staging posts, a proposal to rest animals on vehicles and changes in stocking densities and journey times.

Mr Walsh said he is conscious of the importance of the live export trade to the livelihoods of the many thousands involved in livestock farming in Ireland.

Mary-Anne Bartlett, director of CIWF-Ireland, said long haul journeys cause immense suffering to animals and are totally unnecessary.