A group of animal activists have said they have issued a legal notice to Irish Ferries over calf exports.

The groups involved have claimed that animal welfare legislation has been breached in the transport of calves from Ireland to France.

Irish Ferries is currently the only ferry operator involved in transporting calves from Ireland, following the decision of Brittany Ferries to pull out of transporting calves.

The legal notice was issued on behalf of Compassion in World Farming France, Quatre Pattes ('Four Paws', another French group) and WELFARM, which is understood to also be France-based.

These groups claim that current transport practices fail to meet EU regulations in relation to feeding requirements.

They have called on Irish Ferries to cease their involvement in the trade.

The groups said that the notice gives Irish Ferries an opportunity to address concerns "before any further legal steps are considered".

The activists also said they have written to the European Commission to call on it to "ensure that animal welfare legislation" is fully enforced and to begin infringement proceedings against Ireland "for allowing unweaned calves to be transported to France".

The legal notice coincides with four days of protests at locations in the UK, Ireland and France, in which various animal activist non-government organisations (NGOs) from Ireland, the UK and France took part.

The NGOs serving the legal notice claimed that Irish Ferries' customer service team has been contacted by 70,000 people "right across Europe...to condemn the practice".

Calf exports

The move adds to growing pressure on the calf export trade.

Earlier this month, the Netherlands' Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) said it planned to impose fines on four Irish companies that transport calves to the Netherlands.

The authority claimed the young calves are not being adequately fed while being transported from Ireland to the Netherlands.

In response, the Irish Livestock Exporters Association (ILEA) condemned the allegations made by the NVWA against Irish calf exporters "as legally baseless and politically motivated".

According to the ILEA, the claims from the Dutch authorities are "without foundation in current EU law, misrepresent the status of EFSA’s [European Food Safety Authority] scientific opinions, and constitute an unjustified attack on Ireland’s legitimate livestock-export trade".