Over 50 protesters gathered outside the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) building today (Tuesday, July 9) to call for an end to EU live exports.
The campaigners handed over a petition in excess of 6,500 signatures, to a representative for DAFM.
The letter called for “an immediate end” to live exports to countries outside the EU that do not share the same animal welfare standards as Ireland.
The protest, organised by Ethical Farming Ireland (EFI) also called for the ages of calves to be raised from 14 days to eight weeks.
Founder and director of EFI, Caroline Rowley said that there were “too many breaches of legislation” during the export of live animals, and that there was a need for an “independent body” to review ongoings.
She said it is “completely irresponsible” that the livestock ship, Shorthorn Express was authorised to sail to Israel from Greenore.
The ship is currently on its way to Israel, despite a previous subject Houthi attack in the Red Sea region in June, which the Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree said in a televised interview.
The Shorthorn Express was travelling to Haifa port from Portugal with 12,000 sheep on board at the time, according to Saree.
Live exports
Rowley said that as a “first step”, she would “like shipments to Israel suspended at least until the conflict is over”.
“The nearer you get to the middle east, the hotter it gets in the vessels and of course once they arrive in the country, they are unloaded and transported in completely unsuitable trucks and it’s over 30° in Israel now,” Rowley said.
“Idealistically, I’d like live exports to completely stop, other than to Northern Ireland or the UK, because they’re only short journeys, but for a start, as a first step, we would like it to stop [live exports] outside the EU and we would like unweaned calves to stop being transported,” Rowley added.
Rowley also said that she would like to see a minister for animal welfare “independent” from the department of agriculture.
Prominent Irish actress and animal rights campaigner, Pauline McLynn was also in attendance, and said that after years of protesting, the live exports situation is “even worse” than it was before.
“These poor compromised animals are being shipped off to be someone else’s problem, somewhere else in the world and the horrible lives that they have had up till then are made so much worse,” McLynn said.
Another protester, Iris Park, said that the animals being transported are “treated like rubbish”.
She said that agricultural stakeholders need to look at how people can make a living out of farming while also treating animals in a “compassionate way”.
“None of us in Ireland are that far away from farms, so we do have connections with that. We know that farmers want to treat animals with respect,” Park said.
She said that some families go back generations of farming, and that “nobody wants to stop that” and that it is “not us against farmers”.
Horse abattoir
Protesters from My Lovely Horse Rescue group also gathered outside DAFM buildings to call for “transparency” in the ongoing investigation of the abuse highlighted at Ireland’s only horse abattoir, Shannonside Foods Ltd in Straffan, Co. Kildare.
One of the co-founders of My Lovely Horse Rescue, Martina Kenny said that DAFM “needs to step up” and show the public that investigations are “taken seriously”.
“Things are going on behind closed doors and we all need to know exactly what’s happening, and we need to protect our animals once and for all,” Kenny said.
Additional reporting by Rachel Birch