Live Animal Transport

WAV Comment –

The UK government has recently (since Brexit and leaving the EU) undertaken a consultation on live animal transport which has been open to the British public and any for / against (live export) organisations wishing to submit comments on the subject of all categories associated with live animal transport (exports).  We at WAV took a lot of time (several weeks) with precise submissions and evidence to argue our case on why we considered that long distance live animal transport is unnecessary and should be banned – or at the very most be a one off transport time of 8 hours maximum; which would basically stop all exports from the UK to mainland Europe. 

Here is just one short clip of the response start:

Q1: Do you agree that livestock and horse export journeys for slaughter and fattening are unnecessary?

87% of respondents agreed that livestock and horse export journeys for slaughter and fattening are unnecessary. 11%4 disagreed and 2% did not express a definitive opinion. The majority of respondents who agreed that such journeys are unnecessary were members of the general public and animal welfare groups. The main reason respondents gave for agreeing was that they were concerned about welfare standards during the transportation of live animals. Many individual respondents and animal welfare organisations stated that live exports were cruel and degrading to the animals involved.

Great to see such a high figure of 87% of the British people and organisations basically agreed that live animal exports were unnecessary.

The full document which details the summary of responses to every section of the consultation:

Document title – UK Government:  Improvements to animal welfare in transport Summary of responses and government response Date: August 2021

Click on the following to review the document:

Improvements to animal welfare in transport: summary of responses and government response (publishing.service.gov.uk)

In this document – an Introduction by the UK government:

The welfare of all animals, including in transport, is a real priority for both the UK Government and the Welsh Government. The UK Government has a manifesto commitment to end excessively long journeys for slaughter and fattening, which we are taking forward through our Kept Animals Bill.

Now we have left the EU, we have the opportunity to look at alternative methods to better protect animal welfare during transport. The Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC, now known as the Animal Welfare Committee) report in 2019 identified several aspects of transport that have a detrimental effect on animal welfare. They made a series of recommendations to the current regulations on animal welfare during transport. A Welsh Government response to this paper was published in 2020.

Following the findings in this report, we have looked at improvements to animal welfare in transport, including maximum journey times, thermal conditions and ventilation, space and headroom allowances and sea transport.

We have received a wide range of views to our consultation. We have listened to those views, and will continue to work with industry, NGOs and others to identify priorities where the evidence is clear and in other cases to explore some of the issues and evidence together in more detail. I want us to work together to develop practical solutions that generate the good welfare outcomes we all want to see.

This is a big step, but where the evidence is clear we must act. We want to work with industry to co-design solutions to achieve high welfare outcomes and help them make this transition.

The Rt Hon George Eustice MP Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Lesley Griffiths MS Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd

As a result of the consultation, the following statement was issued by the UK government:

Live animal exports

Having considered the evidence available, including responses to this consultation, the government confirms it will proceed with a ban on the export of livestock (cattle, sheep, goats and pigs) and horses from England, Wales and Scotland for slaughter and fattening. Exports for slaughter and fattening from England, Wales and Scotland will be prohibited whether the animals originate from or are travelling through England, Wales and Scotland.

For the purposes of this consultation, exports for fattening were defined as exports where the animal is to be slaughtered within 6 months of arrival. A large proportion of respondents were critical of the proposed definition and considered a time limit to be unenforceable. Having taken account of this feedback, we propose to remove the reference to a 6-month time limit so that the prohibition will apply to all exports of livestock and horses where an animal is exported to the place of destination in order to be fattened for subsequent slaughter.

To further support our (WAV) welfare organisations call for a complete ban on live animal exports; I have decided to include here for you a series of undercover videos which were undertaken in years prior to the consultation relating to live export issues around Europe.  I have included journey routes, times and animal species.  So here we go:

CIWF live export investigations.

Below are undercover investigations undertaken by CIWF (London).

Video links for each are given; but if you wish to read additional information about the investigations, then head to:

Our investigations into live animal transport | Compassion in World Farming (ciwf.org.uk)

• UK to continental Europe – Trucking Hell.

Journey route: Southern Scotland to France and beyond

Animals transported: Calves

• Journey route: Eastern Europe to Israel

Estimated distance: 2,500 miles

Estimated time: 7 days

Animals transported: Calves

• Journey route: Northern England to Western France

Estimated distance: 630 miles

Estimated time: 18 hours

Animals transported: Sheep

• Journey route: Southern England to Southern Germany

Estimated distance: 590 miles

Estimated time: 23 hours

Animals transported: Sheep

• Journey route: West of England to Northern Spain

Estimated distance: 1,100 miles

Estimated time: 60 hours

Animals transported: Calves

• Journey route: Hungary & Slovakia to Turkey and Latvia to Iraq

Estimated distance: 3,000 miles

Estimated time: up to 13 days

Animals transported: Bulls – click ‘watch on YouTube’ to view.

• Journey route: EU to Turkey

Animals transported: Sheep and cattle

• Journey route: Poland to Italy & the Netherlands

Estimated distance: over 1,000 miles

Estimated time: over 24 hours

Animals transported: Calves

Additional – For more and info on the international live export awareness day on 14/6/22 please click on  Ban Live Exports | Compassion in World Farming (ciwf.org.uk)  or go to

Ban Live Exports International Awareness Day | Compassion in World Farming (ciwf.org.uk)

Regards Mark

https://www.kindnesstrust.com/philip-wollen-speaks

Philip is our Patron here at WAV.

We share many things, but especially that of promoting veganism and also of stopping the transport of live animals all around the world – live exports.

14/6/21 – Mr Philip Wollen Becomes The First WAV Patron; We Are (More Than) Delighted, and Welcome Him To The Group. – World Animals Voice

Home – Winsome Constance Kindness (kindnesstrust.com)

Thanks to Phil for leaving his major exec job in the corporate world and instead being a voice for animals.

We are all united in our attempts to make things better; a lot better.

Regards Mark

https://worldanimalsvoice.com/?s=live+exports

Three trucks carrying lambs sanctioned by traffic police in Italy following investigation

22 April 2022

Essere Animali

During Essere Animali’s roadside checks with MEP Eleonora Evi, three trucks carrying lambs were sanctioned by the traffic police. The conditions were not adequate to guarantee that the animals could move naturally. In one case, a lamb traveled for hours with one leg stuck between the bars of the truck.

Organisation Essere Animali recently carried out checks of the trucks used to transport live animals that pass through the border with Slovenia to Italy. 

Two vehicles from Hungary and one from Romania, each carrying over 700 lambs across four floors, were identified at the border with Slovenia. They were reported to the authorities and followed at a distance for a total of over 2,500 km, until the traffic police intercepted them. The vehicles were sanctioned under Legislative Decree 25 July 2007, n. 151 which provides for the sanctions for the violation of the provisions stipulated in European Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations.

In particular, the violations concerned the insufficient height of the compartments, which did not allow the animals to move naturally. The lambs’ heads touched the upper floor of the compartment, a condition that can cause bumps, bruises, and burns, as well as preventing adequate ventilation of the compartments. For violations of the provisions on animal welfare during transport, penalties can reach up to 6,000 euros.

Essere Animali’s activists also filmed a lamb that traveled for hours with one leg stuck between the truck bars, as well as issues related to the watering system installed in the vehicles, which several organisations have denounced as unsuitable for some time as it puts lambs at risk of suffering from thirst and potentially dehydration.

Last January, the European Parliament approved a series of recommendations drawn up by the ANIT Committee which do not place animal welfare at the centre of the revisions. In fact, the text approved by the majority of MEPs does not propose adequate solutions to numerous urgent problems, including the transport of animals over long distances (over 8 hours), and that of unweaned animals.

We thank MEP Eleonora Evi for her valuable collaboration, and police forces for their timely intervention. We will inform the European Commission and the Minister of Health of the outcome of the violations, providing images that document this alarming reality. The European Regulation, in addition to being frequently violated, is unable to concretely protect animals. Today it is legal to transport lambs less than two months old for journeys lasting up to 30 hours, subjecting them to conditions that cause them great stress and suffering. Together with other NGOs from all over Europe, we are calling for greater animal protection, such as a ban on the transport of live animals over long distances and unweaned animals. The European Union has the opportunity to really improve the conditions of animals; it shouldn’t betray the demands of its citizens.

Simone Montuschi, President, Essere Animali

Regards Mark

WAV Comment:  Often in animal welfare, there are not immediate solutions to concerning animal welfare problems.  Tenacity (the quality or fact of being very determined; determination.) has to be something; and is something, which all of us in the rights / welfare movement need to have and show.  To put it simply, if you give up, you lose.

UK animal people did not give up; in fact, their resolve strengthened.  Why:

Despite the huge success in getting animal sentience recognised in EU law, the recognition of animal sentience in the UK took a big step backwards following the Brexit referendum in 2016.

The following year, Compassion in World Farming discovered that the UK Government’s European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, which formally enacted Brexit, would not carry across provisions from EU Treaties – including Article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU.

This meant that reference to animal sentience would disappear from UK law when the UK formally left the EU on 31st December 2020. Both the recognition of animals as having the capacity to have feelings, including pain and joy, and the requirement for governments to pay “full regard” to their welfare when formulating and implementing policy, would be lost from UK law. Read more about what Brexit meant for Animal Sentience in this news article.

Campaigning on animal sentience in the UK starts again
We (CIWF) had to start campaigning immediately to ensure that this cornerstone of animal welfare law was not lost when the UK left the EU. We mobilised supporters to lobby the Government, contacted Members of Parliament, and liaised with other NGOs to alert them to the threat to animal welfare. Unfortunately, it faced strong Government opposition and was narrowly defeated when it was put to the vote in Parliament.

And finally, on the 12th of December 2017, following the media furore over the vote in Parliament – and under pressure from a 155,000-strong Compassion petition, the UK Government announced a new Bill would be introduced. This was a momentous moment as the Bill would permanently incorporate the legal recognition of animal sentience into UK law post-Brexit.

2018: Campaign setback as Government delays sentience legislation
Despite the positive announcement from the Government at the end of 2017, the campaign to recognise that animals are sentient beings faced even more setbacks in the following years.

Firstly, Parliament’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee published a report which suggested the Bill should be redrafted. The Committee raised concerns that, as the Bill was worded, paying regard to animal sentience would lead to the slowing down or freezing of policymaking and result in widespread Judicial Reviews. Following that report, the UK Government announced in September 2018 that the legislation relating to animal sentience would be delayed.

2019: Over 100,000 calls for animal sentience recognition

In September 2019, our Senior Policy Manager, James West, handed in a 103,000-signature petition to Downing Street, alongside other members of the #BetterDealForAnimals coalition. The petition called on the UK Government to introduce legislation recognising animal sentience and require that full regard be given to animal welfare in UK Government policies.

2020: MPs debate animal sentience

As a result of the 2019 petition reaching over 100,000 signatures, MPs debated the issue in March 2020. Watch the highlights of the debate.

Then, following continued inaction from the Government, in September 2020 dedicated Compassion campaigners took action again.

Thousands of people urged their MPs to call on Ministers to introduce animal sentience legislation before 1st January 2021. This was the day after the UK would formally leave the EU, at which point EU laws recognising animal sentience at the time were due to run out.

2021: UK Government introduces Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill
As the clock struck 11pm on 31st December 2020, despite persistent campaigning, animals in the UK were, for the first time in almost a quarter-century, no longer recognised as sentient beings under the law.
Then, on 13th May, the efforts of compassionate people around the country finally worked in British animals’ favour. The UK Government announced it would introduce the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill as part of its ‘Action Plan for Animal Welfare’.

During the summer and autumn of 2021, the Bill progressed through the House of Lords, completing all its stages by December 2021.

Today – 7/4/22.

On Thursday 7th April, we achieved a momentous victory for animals. 

The updated Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill was voted through by the House of Lords which means that animals are legally recognised as sentient beings once again.

Thank you to everyone who emailed politicians or signed petitions, donated in response to this campaign, shared posts on social media, and asked friends and family to take action.

It’s official. UK law will now recognise that animals can feel joy, pain, and fear once again.. 

Read about the highs and lows of sentience over several decades:

Animal Sentience: the highs and lows | Compassion in World Farming (ciwf.org.uk)

In the end, positive results always come to those who have the tenacity to fight and continue fighting.  Never ever give up the fight(s) for your issues;

Regards Mark