Live Animals Exported from Ramsgate Port - Public Outrage

Oct 24, 2011
Janet Cameron

Blood Money and Animal Abuse - Photo by Janet Cameron

Defenceless animals, including baby calves, suffer transportation for hundreds of miles in awful conditions, to abbattoirs in France, Spain and Italy.

A Kent Online news report dated 17 May 2011 detailed plans for opening Ramsgate Port for the export of live animals to the Continent. The port operators strongly objected to this cruel trade and had tried to resist, and Thanet Council who supported them in their objection, admitted they could not prevent the transportation of live animals.

Mark Seed, commercial services manager of Thanet Council said, "We are extremely unhappy about this situation and about the potential impact such trade could have on the port, but unfortunately there is no legal basis on which we can refuse the use of the port for this purpose." Even to try, explained Mr. Seed, would involve considerable cost to the taxpayer and this would be unlikely to stop it. Thanet Council was also anxious about disruption to the port through protests because it could impact on normal port trade.

One local said, "Why are we exporting live animals when we need to import even more meat to feed people on this overcrowded island?" This cruel trade involves animals travelling for many hours from Ireland, Wales and Yorkshire, to then face a ferry crossing and another long journey to abbattoirs in France, Spain and Italy.

Demonstrations to Rescue Young Calves from Cruelty

On 5 May 2011, seventy demonstrators from the animal charity "Compassion in World Farming" had demonstrated against the trade. This trade in live calves to provide veal and beef restarted in 2006 immediately after the ten-year-old EU ban imposed to counter BSE was lifted. One spokesperson said that animals only around two weeks old, and that had never travelled, were crowded into noisy vehicles and driven for hundreds of miles.

Beside protests at Ramsgate, there were also similar demonstrations at the nearby Port of Dover, A protest organiser, Ian Driver, insisted this was a sickening trade, yet the NUF (National Farmers' Union) still claimed the animals were well treated.

Finally - a Debate on Live Animal Transportation in Parliament

Now, action is to be taken. MP for Ramsgate, Laura Sandys, will shortly be debating this serious issue in Parliament. Ms. Sandys said, "Animals are sentient beings and deserve to be treated with care and compassion - exporting them on long, cramped journeys is barbaric and totally unnecessary. Live exports are a thing of the past."

Thanet Council had already called for a limit to the time for which animals should be in captivity during transportation. The request was made by Bob Bayford of Thanet Council to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. DEFRA responded that they preferred that animals should be slaughtered close to their point of production. However, the Government would not be willing "to support setting an automatic eight-hour maximum journey time for all species of livestock." But it might be possible to discuss maximum journey time or distance limit to prevent excessively long journeys to the slaughter destination.

Ms. Sandys believes that ways could be found to make the trade more difficult and more expensive. Already there is a labelling system in force so that people would know if meat had been exported, which may, she feels, help to "kill off the trade." Ms Sandys is determined to do all she can to convince the Government to act to end the suffering of these defenceless animals.