How you can help end the suffering of farm animals
As the demand from abroad for British-reared livestock grows, Closer investigates the true cost of the cruel export meat trade
Every year, hundreds of thousands of live animals are exported from the UK and sold in countries across Europe.
Pigs, sheep and calves are crammed into lorries with no food or room to lie down, and many of the traumatised animals are slaughtered upon arrival at their destination – some travelling for as long as 23 hours into mainland Europe.
Latest government figures show the UK exported
555,118 animals in 2016 alone to satisfy demands for fresh British produce abroad.
In November last year, an overcrowded vessel carrying more than 14,600 sheep capsized in the Black Sea – just 250 sheep survived.
Although most consumers consider animal welfare important, there’s a demand for live exports because consumers believe the meat tastes better if it is freshly slaughtered.
PAINFUL DEATHS
Now, charities and activists are calling for a ban on live exports.
Veterinary nurse and vegan activist Shakira Miles saw live exports first-hand during a protest at Ramsgate port in Kent in March 2019.
Shakira, 32, says, “The conditions the animals are kept in is heartbreaking. Terrified sheep and calves are piled into lorries containing four stories of cages.
“The calves – a by-product of the dairy industry – are taken at just two weeks old, so they suckle desperately at the bars, pining for their mothers, while sheep are crammed in so tightly they can’t move an inch, let alone fight free.
“In the colder months, the sheep often get respiratory diseases and cough excessively. Without any medical care, discharge seeps from their eyes and noses, causing sore, irritated skin. The stress they’re under only exacerbates these painful symptoms. No animals deserve to be treated like this – we need to end all animal exploitation.”
Once the animals reach mainland Europe, they await a painful death. While EU countries follow the same slaughter guidelines as the UK, research shows that stunning – a method using electricity to make animals unconscious – is not always effective, resulting in slow, agonising deaths.
Animal welfare charity Compassion in World Farming is campaigning to stop live exports. Campaigns manager Natasha Smith tells Closer, “We’ve campaigned for decades to ban live animal exports – and this could be a pivotal year to stop this cruel trade, once and for all.”
BETTER WELFARE
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suggested the UK government would ban live exports post-Brexit, stating that we can stop putting “live animals [under] great distress and confusion [for] very long distances,” but Natasha says the government needs to act faster.
She says, “Consumers want better welfare for animals, but change simply isn’t happening quickly enough. Britain should be leading the way for other countries to follow.”
❛ CALVES SUCKLE DESPERATELY AT THE BARS, PINING FOR THEIR MOTHERS ❜