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email this page to a friendAS FARMERS across the Yorkshire Dales join their colleagues around the country in celebrating the return of British beef to the European market, a leading animal welfare charity is questioning the resumption of live cattle exports.
RSPCA concerned over live exports
With concern for the welfare implications for thousands of young calves, the RSPCA and Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) are calling for alternatives to the re-starting of the trade.
"It is extraordinary that these very young calves can be transported abroad to be reared in conditions that have long been illegal in the UK," says David Bowles, the RSPCA's Head of External Affairs.
"Although cramped veal crates will effectively be banned in the EU from the end of this year, they can still be in use today and, even in the alternative group housing systems, slatted floors are permitted - with no comfortable resting area or bedding."
The export of live calves led to large scale protests at British ports in the early 1990's and eventually forced many of the major ferry companies to stop carrying animals for the export market.
The RSPCA is now worried that new EU rules could result in even younger animals being transported. Dr Julia Wrathall, the charity's Head of Farm Animals, said:
"An extra concern is that both the existing and forthcoming new EU law on transporting live animals allow calves as young as two weeks old to be in transit for nine hours with a water/feed break of just one hour, followed by another nine or more hours on the road."
A spokesman for the National Farmers Union (NFU) said that the resumption of the export trade would provide a much-needed market for dairy-bred calves, but added that it is vital that the trade is conducted to the highest possible standards, both for the welfare of the calves and to allay public concern.
"The resumption of the export trade in live calves, whilst very welcome from a farming point of view, is bound to be controversial and it is essential that it is conducted with the maximum transparency and to the highest possible standards."
The RSPCA and CIWF are calling for:
The dairy industry (from which most veal calves are sourced) to seek alternative outlets for excess dairy-bred calves
The British Government to explore financial support mechanisms for rearing dairy-bred calves under higher welfare conditions within the UK and to end live exports
The EU to agree higher welfare standards for live animal transport, taking into account available knowledge of the effect of transport on the health and welfare of young animals
The public (even if they are not thinking of buying veal) to ask retailers, caterers and restauranteurs, wherever veal is offered, where the veal comes from. If it is not UK veal, mention that the chances are that the veal could have been reared under conditions illegal in the UK and ask them to source only humanely reared veal.
The NFU is seeking to allay public concern by calling on potential exporters to give an assurance that calves will only be exported to units that comply with the new EU Regulations, and are encouraging them to be as open and transparent as possible about their operations.
It is doubtful that such assurances will placate many in the animal welfare community. Rowen West-Henzell of CIWF explains: "Many people thought that this trade had ended permanently in 1996, when the ban was put in place because of BSE.
"Sadly, it seems that the time has not been used productively by the industry to develop more welfare-friendly alternatives to a resumption of the export trade."
