Time to change the rules: Eurogroup for Animals launches White Paper on the Revision of the Transport Regulation

27 January 2021

Today, Eurogroup for Animals presented its White Paper on the upcoming Revision of the Transport Regulation during a high-level online event, bringing together more than 150 stakeholders from EU institutions, Member States, civil society and industry. The White Paper outlines how the new Transport Regulation should adhere to the basic principles of reducing, refining and replacing live transport, whenever applicable.

Since its foundation, Eurogroup for Animals and its members have been advocating to ensure effective protection of all animals transported. In 2007, Council Regulation 1/2005 – also known as the Transport Regulation – entered into force with the aim to avoid any injury or undue suffering during transport. However, over the years, investigations revealed that its implementation and enforcement is very poor; and scientific sources reported that its provisions are often unfit to ensure effective protection for the animals transported.

Today, Eurogroup for Animals launches a White Paper as a response to the European Commission’s stated aims to revise the Transport Regulation “to align it with the latest scientific evidence, broaden its scope, make it easier to enforce and ultimately ensure a higher level of animal welfare”.

Every day, a vast range of animal species are transported within the EU and beyond for commercial activities, yet the current Transport Regulation does not guarantee effective protection to all of them. In principle, the Transport Regulation should apply to the commercial transport of live vertebrate animals. However, the majority of its provisions refer only to the welfare of certain terrestrial farmed animal species: the requirements for the transport of fish, companion animals and equines are less developed; and measures to ensure the welfare of a large group of species transported for scientific purposes are completely absent. Additionally, by definition, invertebrates transported for food production remain out of the scope of the Regulation. This needs to change.

Furthermore, it’s been widely demonstrated that existing gaps in the current legislative framework have a significant negative impact on animals. This needs to be addressed by establishing comprehensive species- and category-specific requirements as well as a more efficient enforcement system. To this end, the White Paper provides the European Commission and EU co-legislators with science based key provisions to be included in the revised legislative text to substantially improve the welfare of terrestrial farmed animals, fish and aquatic invertebrates, equines, companion animals, and laboratory animals during transport. To further facilitate compliance and systematic data collection, a reporting system based on transparent communication on the animals being transported (species and numbers, animal welfare status, journey route) and any transport-related problems, is outlined. Such a system would increase Member States’ accountability and fully exploit the enforcement power of the European.

There is a lot more to this:

England: There Is More To The Jill Story When You Have the Facts. – World Animals Voice

Remembering the beauty that was Jill.

Regards Mark

1^st February – Remembering Jill decades later; you are never forgotten.

Jill lost her life on 1/2/95 trying to stop trucks carrying live baby calves from England to Europe.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Jill_Phipps

On 1 February 1995, Phipps was one of 35 protesters at Coventry Airport in Baginton, protesting the export of live calves to Amsterdam for distribution across Europe. Ten protesters broke through police lines and were trying to bring the lorry to a halt by sitting in the road or chaining themselves to it when Phipps was crushed beneath the lorry’s wheels; her fatal injuries included a broken spine.^[6]

“An hour after she arrived on the day she died, the lorry appeared. Most of the protesters were further down the road but a small group, including Ms Phipps who had arrived earlier, were at the entrance of the airport when the articulated lorry came up the road. As it bypassed the main group of campaigners, she ran, arms outstretched, headlong towards it. She clambered up the front wing. Her sister watched in horror as she slipped and fell beneath the wheels.”^[7]

The Crown Prosecution Service ruled there was no evidence to bring any charges against the driver. Phipps’ family blamed the police for her death because the police were working to keep the convoy of lorries moving. The inquest heard that the driver may have been distracted by a protester running into the road ahead of him, who was being removed by a policeman. A verdict of accidental death was returned.^[6]

Mark.

WAV Comment:

Please watch the video given in this post – you dont need to understand the language; the pictures say it all !

“Animal transports – cheap meat at any price?”

Austrian public broadcaster sheds light on live transport at prime time

18 January 2021

Four Paws

Cattle crammed into trucks, brutally loaded onto ships, slaughtered while fully conscious – disturbing images of animals being transported to the Middle East, including those of Austrian cattle in Lebanon, as well as interviews with Eurogroup for Animals’ members Four Paws and Animals International are featured in a new documentary which was broadcasted at prime time on Austrian television.

The documentary feature called “Animal transports – cheap meat at any price?” took a critical look at this much-discussed topic last Wednesday, 13 January 2021. The documentary looks at the crucial questions of how and why these animals from Austria are transported thousands of kilometres, also addressing the crux of why domestic calves are exported at all, while most of the veal for Austrian gastronomy is imported. In the past, these questions have triggered not only a public but also a political debate in Austria.

Every year about 45,000 calves are exported from Austria to countries such as Italy or Spain, while about 100,000 animals are imported to Austria to end up on the plates of local restaurants.

In Vienna, 60 per cent of the Wiener Schnitzel consists of imported veal. Most of it comes from the Netherlands and is produced under conditions that would not be permitted in Austria. This, however, is not comprehensible to the consumer as most menus are not transparent. A schnitzel from Austrian veal would cost 50 cents more, and 20 cents more for pork.

Read more at source

Der Standard

18/1/21

Update – UL Live Export Consultation.

Last night, 17/1, I completed and submitted to the UK government our responses regarding the proposed ban on live animal exports from the UK.  Almost immediately I was informed that our submission had been accepted by the Ministry and would join others for the final review.

References:

England: Full Info on the UK Ban Live Exports Consultation. Finishes End of Jan 2021. – World Animals Voice

UK: Live Exports (Ban) Consultation. – World Animals Voice

Our response, once completed, comprised of 41 written pages of written text; without any photos but with video footage and also links to past media coverage on specific issues.

I am not going to show our responses here on this site; as some of the data relates to specific investigative operations undertaken in the past, which we do not want to make them public.  In the information provided to the government we have requested that our information be kept private and confidential; only to be reviewed by the government; and not openly presented to wider audiences as it could have been.  Again, we have had confirmation of this request.

As you probably know by now; live animal transport is my major ‘hate’ in this animal abuse world.  It has taken me personally 32 years of activism to get to the situation we are now at – and with stories from 32 years stored away (in my still functioning head I think ?) there is a lot of info to look back at and select as important.  Saying that, the aim of the response to the government is to get a ban on live animal transport this year; and I feel confident / hopeful that in the end we will succeed.  I know that several other personal contacts in the ‘animal rights world’ are also making submissions at this time; so hopefully we can look for change in the near future.

As a member state of the EU; and despite the vast majority wishes of most UK citizens for a ban to be introduced for many years; the British government was banned (by the EU) from introducing a ban on live animal exports.  As the UK broke away from the EU completely at the end of last year (2020); it can now take back its own control and have its own laws on issues – and the potential ban on live transport is one of them.

This does not mean that we now forget the tens of thousands of animals in transport across the EU; and the fact that many of them are evading EU regulations to end up being ritually slaughtered (against EU legislation) in places such as Lebanon and Libya.  We will continue to work as always with our EU friends to ensure that combined, we get the very best we can for the animals.

Review some of our past posts on the subject here – Search Results for “live animal transport” – World Animals Voice

I am now glad that task is completed and I can get onto to other things.

Regards Mark

Here are just a small selection of photos I have taken on this disgusting business over the years:

Below – exposing French calves being imported into the UK (a scam) to obtain compensation payouts by the UK government which should have only been made to British industry only ! – things turned real nasty after I took this photo; we caught them and they did not take kindly – but then few things in life are ever perfect !

Above – British calves being exported by the Dutch to the ‘crate’ systems.

Below – Mrs ‘Plod’ makes sure I behave !

Above – Protesting against the calf trade with Ellie and Liza

Above – and below – Crated calves in the EU

Above – A transporter driver sends us his best regards !

England: Another Terrible Loss – John Callaghan. – World Animals Voice

Below – great export mate ‘Mike’; now passed.

Above – You bet they are worth fighting for !

Fight for the better ways !

Regards Mark

World Health Organisation disease specialist warns live animal export must stop

World Health Organisation disease specialist warns live animal export must stop | Animals Australia

World Health Organisation epidemiologist Professor Mary-Louise McLaws has warned of the danger of live animal exports, saying the trade poses the risk of a “ghastly” disease outbreak.

The disease expert, who is a Professor of Epidemiology at the University of New South Wales and Health Emergencies IPC Preparedness, Readiness and Response to COVID-19 Advisor to the World Helath Organisation, was interviewed on Channel 10’s The Project and had some strong words to say about the continuation of live animal exports.

While people and animals across the world continue to suffer the impacts of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, scientists and academics are increasingly drawing attention to humanity’s broken relationship with nature and animals as a major cause for alarm and risk of future pandemics. 

A recent report from the United Nations warns that a stream of diseases can be expected to jump from animals to humans in coming years, while the global demand for meat — and the resultant deforestation and intensification of animal farming — continues.

The live animal export industry forces animals into close confinement in unnatural surroundings which can lead to extreme stress, injury, sickness and death. Live export ships are essentially factory farms on water — taking animals like cattle and sheep from open pastures and confining them to pens for weeks at a time, exposing them to cruel conditions including extreme heat and rough seas. 

Even during this time when so many people’s movement is restricted to try to stop the virus from spreading, this industry has been allowed to continue to operate — to the detriment of both humans and animals.

As if there weren’t enough reasons to end the cruel trade… not only does live export condemn millions of animals to terrible suffering, but, according to this disease expert, it’s putting human lives at risk too.