Farming Talk: Live transport of animals is a thorny issue
The thorny issue of live exports is in the news again, because a lorry took sheep to Ramsgate, and when they were inspected one had a broken leg and up to 40 were “severely lame” – as a result, live exports have once again been suspended.
I wonder why we export live stock which are destined for slaughter anyway. It must be because it is a good trade and the countries buying them feel they are getting a better deal, so our farmers agree.
Why is it not so good to take our lambs, calves, pigs or cull cows and ewes to our nearest abattoir and have them exported in refrigerated lorries?
In the past we have sold live in markets, but mostly we would take a trailer of 30-plus lambs to our nearest slaughterhouse where we had already agreed a price so knew what we would get.
Usually by the time they were offloaded and I’d picked up the slip from the office they were dead. This might sound harsh, but actually it meant that they were down the ramp into a pen, down a passage and it was all over. No time to be anxious about the strange place, people or noises, and to our way of thinking this was the best for everybody.
I think farmers need to address what these incidents do to their image. We protest that we care for our animals, but times have changed and we must be responsible for what happens to them after they have left the farm. Ignorance may have been bliss once, but not any more.
Some farmers complain it has been blown out of all proportion. And certainly it does seem the RSPCA over-reacted to the level of sickness (lame sheep just need treating, not shooting!) and apparently they lost sight of the best way to handle them. It seems they shot them rather than use a humane killer, and some drowned when they were unloaded in an unsuitable area – a prosecutable offence if a farmer did it.
We should not find ourselves in the position where focus groups like the RSPCA, CIWF or PETA are able to point the finger at our incompetence or even cruelty.
We should police ourselves, and certainly the NFU and the National Sheep Association should recognise that it is not in the long term interest of the meat industry to keep walking this tightrope.
Exports have now been suspended, so presumably they will be selling on the hook until it is sorted. But why not stop live exports for slaughter?
Breeding stock travel long distances, but they’re treated much more carefully, as they need to be healthy when they arrive or there will be no sale.
When we imported Charollais sheep from France, the lengths everybody went to to care for them was almost laughable.
If we use our abattoirs, our vets, and our lorries we don’t lose jobs and we support our economy rather than Europe’s – And we are transparent and accountable.
Rosemary Allen is a retired livestock farmer now living near Ellesmere and with her husband Peter is part of CowCash-UK.
Comments for: "Farming Talk: Live transport of animals is a thorny issue"
ann adley
Thankfully someone with farming experience can see the damage that this trade is doing to the farming industry.
I was at Ramsgate when this shipment went through and would like to correct a couple of things regarding the destruction of the sheep.The RSPCA were present but it was the 'competent authority' who authorised the offloading of the sheep.From outside the vehicle they could see two sheep with broken legs and when checking the upper tier found a sheep down,unable to rise due to the stocking density being too high.Unable to reach the animal AHVL authorised the unloading.
You make a good point about treating the lame animals but the exporter had no contingency plan where they could back up another transporter to reload on site,the original being condemned due to faulty hydraulics so the animals could not be taken away from the port giving them no choice but to euthanise.
This trade reflects so badly on the farming community as a whole while it is only a few dealers who continue this archaic trade,it really should have been consigned to the history books by now and it is time that the NFU and the Sheep Association condemned this trade and forced it to end. On the hook is the way to go.
hedgehog
May I ask if the nationality of the hauliers as they where not English. As for on the hook look at foot n mouth epidemic to see how abattoirs reduced price paid to producers because of lack of competition in the market place . Export travel times can be less than going to the "North" of the country, most objections seem to be with how laws are applied in other countries. No one disagrees with animal welfare as a must but don't punish UK farmers for other peoples failings . We have had to pass tests to transport animals, UK hauliers have to pass more stringent tests being professional contractors .
There are plenty of comments about how badly the situation was handled by all the authorities that where present but the RSPCA have tried to make political capital out of the situation to suit their own agenda .
Jay Newell
Not all countries want or can house refridgerated on the hook meat..These people need help,Over the last 3 years after lengthy petitioning Australia has steped in to help create/build yards including quarantine and processing facilities in Vietnam at thier request to recieve live animals that comply with our standards..Australians are the world leaders and highest achievers of animal welfare during transit,Vietnam has the highest rate of animal cruelty world wide,By accepting our beef for breeding and slaughter they hope to all but wipe out the illegal monkey meat trades and reduce the home slaughter and consumption of native animals and the ones we would call domestic pets by people who have no other options..The sad reality is if you dont step up the safety and traceability aspects of any kind of transport with animal welfare in mind at both sending and recieval sites it will reflect badly on the industry...I whole heartedly believe that a national export company should also comply with farm gate rules therefore allowing us to effectively police ourselves as we monitor our stock that are exported as well as imported from gate to gate..