Wicklow Calf Company boss, Seamus Scallan has said that the EU must give Ireland “some sort of a dispensation” to get livestock out to mainland Europe.
Scallan’s comment comes following recent revelations that a series of recommendations on the transport of calves have been put forward by the European Parliament committee on Inquiry on the Protection of Animals During Transport (ANIT).
The ANIT Committee will bring forward recommendations to a full session of the parliament early in the new year which, if adopted in their current form, would end the transport of calves under five-weeks of age in the future.
Commenting on the recommendations, the Wicklow Calf Company boss said “Ireland joined the EU for the free movement of goods and the free movement of people” and added that the recommendations would “exclude Ireland from trading calves with other European countries”.
“As we are an island and are not attached to mainland Europe, the EU has to give us some sort of a dispensation to get our stock off the island,” he said.
“We can’t be unfairly treated because of our geographical location.”
Calf welfare
Commenting on calf welfare, Scallan said that it “has to be the top priority” and said “we must move up on the age of the calves and we must move up to 21 days“.
The Wicklow calf trader believes Ireland has “some of the highest calf transport welfare laws” and said “we have gone the extra mile to keep standards high”.
He continued: “We are policed stringently by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine [DAFM] on our paperwork, calf sheds and lorries.”
Scallan added that he believes the new regulations are being imposed as a result of some eastern European countries which are “not paying heed” to the current welfare regulations.
He also believes that a number of people proposing the new recommendations “don’t understand the efforts undertaken to ensure the highest standards of calf welfare”.
“The feedback I get every year from buyers of Irish calves in Spain, France and Holland, is that our calves arrive fresh and healthy.”
As part of the efforts to improve calf welfare, Scallan explained that Wicklow Calf Company has started using slow-releasing milk powder which is fed to calves before loading, claiming “it lasts in their system longer”.
Concluding, Scallan said: “There is a large cohort of people opposing the calf trade who have no experience in it, and while I agree with the rules being tightened up and welfare being brought to a higher standard, we need to base our regulations on science and facts.”