RSPCA inspectors were sent to a port in Kent yesterday, for the first time in over a decade, following growing concern over the welfare of animals being subjected to live export on board a ship that animal welfare groups have claimed is unsuitable.

Calves and sheep being shipped abroad are being transferred via Ramsgate, following damage to a livestock ramp at Dover port in May last year. Last week, the RSPCA’s new chief executive, Gavin Grant, met with Thanet Council, which owns Ramsgate port, to ask for permission for RSPCA inspectors to attend and pledged ‘zero tolerance’ of any hauliers found breaking animal welfare rules.

Yesterday, three RSPCA inspectors and a vet attended to port to inspect conditions onboard lorries as they arrived, and aboard the boat intended to transport the animals across the channel. Although the RSPCA says it disapproves of long distance transport of animals, the inspectors and vet passed all the livestock they examined as fit to travel.

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Animal welfare groups have held regular demonstrations at the port. Although the NFU has said there is nothing wrong with the trade, which it claims is subject to strict controls, NGOs including Compassion in World Farming have condemned long distance transport.

Compassion has criticised the low costs charged to exporters for use of Ramsgate port, stating that, according to its calculations this means taxpayers are subsidising a trade which has little public support to the tune of thousands of pounds.  

RSPCA moves to enforce welfare laws

Chief Inspector Dermot Murphy commented on Wednesday’s inspection, “The RSPCA is against the long-distance transport of live animals for slaughter or further fattening and we were at Ramsgate Port, at the agreement of Thanet District Council and Animal Health, to ensure welfare rules are not being flouted.

He said inspectors had been “making sure that the animals have access to water, that there are non-slip floors or bedding down and that the calves and sheep are in a fit condition to travel. We have made it clear that if there are breaches of the rules we will take action.”

Of the four lorries examined by RSPCA officials on Wednesday, two were issued with warning notices. One had truck was found to have broken ventilation fans and another had mixed sheep, including some with horns, from different flocks in the same lorry.

Following a recent meeting with the district council, groups including the council, RSPCA and Compassion in World Farming have agreed to push for an audit of the Ramsgate facilities to ensure they are adequate and for inspectors to be allowed to remain on board during cross channel trips.

Speaking at the Food and Drink Expo 2012 in Birmingham yesterday, farming minister Jim Paice pledged his support for farmers wishing to capitalise on increased export opportunities. He said, "The livestock sector is showing signs of turning round and farmers will respond to these positive market signals, beef and lamb have huge potential overseas."

Defra has pledged to support exporters and has implemented a range of grants and schemes in rural Britain which it claims will revitalise rural regions by increasing competition and supporting ‘entrepreneurs.’ However, this view has been criticised as “naïve” by food policy experts, who claim more development funding should be going towards community projects and growing, with a focus on supporting nutritious horticulture projects, rather than the UK’s current major food exports of meat, alcohol, cheese and chocolate.

Live animal transport reached its height in the 1990s in the UK, when some 500,000 calves a year were shipped from the UK to mainland Europe, but the BSE crisis and resultant bans brought the trade to a halt until 2006. RSPCA Inspector Murphy added, “We hoped the days of seeing lorry loads of calves and sheep being shipped to Europe where they can face long journeys and may be reared in conditions which would be illegal here, were long behind us. Sadly that is not the case but while this trade continues the RSPCA will be at ports checking the welfare of the animals.”

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