Baby and pregnant animals left behind

Today’s vote means Parliament has failed to protect the welfare of unweaned and pregnant animals. Baby animals such as calves can still be transported from the age of 4 weeks or even younger, suffering hunger, thirst and thermal stress which heavily impacts their vulnerable immune system. Nor will any special care be given to pregnant animals, who sometimes end up giving birth in terrible conditions on board vehicles or ships.

“The EU has serious problems in terms of enforcing its animal welfare standards within its own borders, and in Third countries it has no jurisdiction,” Olga Kikou commented. “The reality is that most Third countries to which the EU exports live animals have few if any welfare standards for farmed animals, and none come close to matching those of the EU. The absence of a ban on exports will simply allow the violence perpetrated against animals abroad to continue unabated.”

Over three million live animals are exported from the EU to Third countries each year. Journeys by road and/or sea are particularly long and stressful to countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, Libya and Algeria which are considered high-risk for animal welfare. Cases of tremendous cruelty in Third countries are reported time and again, but it is impossible for the EU to enforce its animal protection legislation beyond its borders.

Our recommendations

Compassion in World Farming EU urges the European Commission to include the following provisions when it puts forward its proposal to revise the EU legislation on animal transport next year:

Ban live animal exports to Third countries by all transport modes and replace them with trade in meat, carcasses and genetic materials
Adopt measures to reduce transport of live animals within the EU:
- No transport of unweaned animals;
- No transport of pregnant animals if more than 40% of the expected gestation period has already passed;
- Sea transport to be carried out only under very strict rules, always with a veterinarian present on board and with feasible contingency plans for emergencies;
- Species-specific and category-specific (e.g. lactating/non lactating, at the end of their production cycle, etc.) temperature ranges within which transport can take place;
- Introduction of absolute journey time limits of 8 hours.

For more information, please email eu.office@ciwf.org