Activists bare almost all in animal proposal rally

ANIMAL welfare campaigners bared almost all outside the Department of Agriculture and Food offices in Dublin yesterday, protesting new EU animal transport proposals.

The two women and one man were body-painted as farm animals, to symbolise the three million cattle, pigs, sheep and horses transported long distances across Europe each year for fattening and slaughter.

Speakers at the Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) protest said the proposed EU animal transport rules drawn up by the Irish EU presidency were unacceptable. The proposals are to be voted on at the EU Farm Council meeting in Luxembourg next week.

CIWF said the proposals contained no journey limit for animals travelling for slaughter. It wants member states to block the proposal.

Mary-Anne Bartlett, CIWF-Ireland director, said the proposals were a backward step that won’t alleviate animal welfare problems in the live export trade.

Agriculture and Food Minister Joe Walsh has welcomed any proposals that improve the welfare of animals being transported.

But he said they must also regard the right of livestock operators to avail of the Single European Market.

“I regard the live trade as an essential market outlet for producers. I also believe this trade will only be sustainable in the long-term on the basis of having the highest possible standards for the protection of animal welfare,” he said.