Stena Line has been urged by a Dutch animal welfare group “to stop transporting calves from Ireland to France”.
The Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals (Dierenbescherming) estimates that this year “around 150,000” calves will be exported from Ireland to other European member states.
According to Ellen Bien, animal protection director with the society, “calves are transported at far too young an age”.
Bien said: “We believe that Stena Line should no longer allow this transport via their ferries.
“And there is a simple alternative; let the calves grow up in the country where they are born.”
Calves
The Dutch society highlighted that in 1994 Stena Line “won much praise for its decision to stop transporting farm animals for slaughter or fattening on its route from southern England to continental Europe”.
Bien added: “We urge Stena Line to take a similarly bold step now and stop transporting calves from Ireland to France.”
However, a spokesperson for the ferry operator told Agriland that Stena Line “is fully licensed for the carriage of livestock by a number of statutory bodies and its fleet is inspected and audited regularly to ensure full compliance with the current regulations as stipulated under the strict terms of reference of its license agreements”.
The spokesperson added: “The Irish government conducts a number of veterinary inspections to ensure the carriage of livestock by hauliers and shipping lines is legal and Stena Line has always been seen to be compliant with the current regulations.
“Furthermore, Stena Line has facilitated a number of extra monitoring voyages to help increase the number and frequency of veterinary inspections.
“Stena Line maintains the highest standards of regulation compliance on each sailing and has committed to implement any future changes which the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) deems necessary.”
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, has previously stated that DAFM “only permits animals to be transported in compliance with the EU’s animal welfare legislation, which is amongst the most progressive legal frameworks in the world”.
The minister has also outlined that Ireland has “national rules to protect the welfare of livestock being transported on dedicated livestock vessels, which lay down controls that are more stringent than EU rules, and which have been cited as an example of best practice by the European Commission to other member states”.