Irish farmers “care greatly about their animals and work to the highest standards in animal welfare” says Meat Industry Ireland.
Our country’s cattle are bred and kept for meat or milk but their largely pasture-based grass-fed lives is what makes them a desirable commodity to the rest of the world.
But behind advertising images used to sell everything from beef to butter, it is alleged a “cruel trade” in live animal exports is growing. And some claim the Government needs to do more to protect animals.
Read more: Ireland could have to give 20% of land back to nature under EU proposals
Among the allegations are claims that the tens of thousands of Irish animals shipped abroad every year includes unweaned calves who are just weeks old.
Eyes on Animals and Ethical Farming Ireland have long been campaigning for an end to what they claim is an “abhorrent” practice of shipping animals abroad to their deaths.
Paperwork seen by this news site appears to suggest some unweaned calves go for more than 24 hours without food on some shipments from Ireland to France.
One journey log appears to show calves were left on a truck for four and a half hours before the lorry was loaded onto the ship at Rosslare for the 18-hour voyage to Cherbourg Port.
Another log appears to show they were carried from Co Cork to an Irish port, to arrive at 7pm.
Ferry
They were then loaded onto the 8pm ferry arriving in Cherbourg at 3pm the following day. It took a further hour to get them to Qualivia Tollevast and food. That’s a lorry journey of at least 23 hours if they left Cork at the latest possible time of 4.30pm the previous day.
According to EU regulations calves should be unloaded and fed after 19 hours.
Eyes on Animals inspector Nicola Glen told us: “They need to be fed individually because they are so tiny and don’t understand what’s going on.”
But the paperwork which exporters are obliged to use to raise concerns state that this hasn’t happened on at least four occasions.
Video and audio footage captured on a ferry leaving Ireland and seen by this newspaper showed lorry loads of calves mooing loudly.
Nicola describes them as “crying’ and believes this was because “they are hungry, thirsty, tired and stressed”.
Caroline Rowley, director of Ethical Farming Ireland, said: “EFI has observed hundreds of trucks at Rosslare port full of bawling calves.
“Sometimes the noise is horrendous and you can hear the desperate cries right across the port. They have been cooped up in trucks for several hours. This is before the 18-hour ferry crossing during which time they cannot be fed.
“There is something very wrong with a society that thinks starving vulnerable babies for over 24 hours while forcing them to endure the stresses and hardship of long distance transport is not only acceptable, but good welfare.”
EOA’s Ms Glen said: “We have witnessed them being punched and kicked and dragged along the floor by their tails.”
Calves can be legally exported from 15 days old. Images shared by the charities show some calves don’t even make the journey, with their tiny bodies discarded on arrival.
Ms Glen alleges the Government doesn’t keep a record of calf mortality during export.
A proposal to ban long live shipments of calves under 35 days old capping journey times at eight hours was defeated in January.
The move was largely welcomed by farmers’ groups.
Brendan Golden, IFA livestock committee chairman, said at the time: “Seeking to change the rules because other countries fail to implement them is not acceptable.”
The Department of Agriculture said it “supports” the live export of cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. But the Government is being urged to end trade with war zones or countries where animal welfare is not high on the agenda including Libya, Ukraine, Russia and Jordan.
Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly wants an end to all live exports. She said: “These journeys are eight days typically but they could go beyond... and [there’s] no vets on board for the most part.
“We want to see a limit on journeys to less than 24 hours and a ban on the export of unweaned calves [and] exporting to countries outside the EU for two reasons.
“One is the journey and the other is the kind of [slaughtering] practices that are completely inhumane. The animals aren’t even stunned before they are killed and are often slashed several times and literally bleed to death.
“Last year about 5,000 animals were exported to Libya and this year to date it’s 7,300. I think if the Irish public knew these are the kind of conditions these animals are kept in, they’d be horrified.”
An EC regulation forbids the transport of animals “in a way likely to cause injury or undue suffering to them”.
An official said: “The commission attaches great importance to the Issue of animal transport.
“The implementation of European Union legislation for animal transport falls primarily within the responsibility of the Member States.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine said: “All live export shipments from Ireland are conducted in compliance with legislative requirements.
“The department takes its responsibilities in the matter of animal welfare most seriously and exercises close oversight and deploys considerable resources into the area of animal welfare in general, including in respect of animals being transported.
“The Government supports the live export of animals as it is a critical part of Ireland’s livestock industry, and the Government demands the highest standards of animal welfare during transport. The department facilitates this trade, recognising its critical importance to the agri-sector, while ensuring that live animal exports meet the highest welfare standards.”
Stenaline says it “inherited” the transportation of unweaned calves from Rosslare to Cherbourg when it took over the route.
It added: “Stena Line takes its duty of care for the welfare of live animals very seriously.”
Irish Ferries, the IFA and Teagasc did not respond to requests for a comment.
READ NEXT :
