1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148 
Animal hauliers protest
Page 11
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• by Guy Sheppard
European livestock carriers have joined forces to fight a proposed restriction on animal movements which they
say would finish off the sector altogether In a joint letter to members of the European Parliament, the carriers argue that there is no justification for limiting journeys for livestock destined for slaughter to 500km or eight hours.
In the letter they say: "We would like to point out to you that this would finish off a sector that has invested a great deal over the past few years, particularly in improving animal welfare."
It was written on behalf of Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and German trade associations as well as the Road Haulage Association and the Animal Transport Association (ATA).
The proposal has been drafted by the European Parliament's Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (CM 26 April-2 May).
Roger Wrapson, secretary of the RHA's livestock hauliers' group, says it would lead to more loading and
unloading of animals, increasing both the stress they suffer and the risk of infection among livestock generally.
Tim Harris, European secretary of the ATA, says there is already a mass of animal welfare legislation which is not being policed properly: "We are against more legislation which the rest of Europe will probably pay lip service to and the British will try to adhere to properly," Edward Gilder, owner of
Cotswold-based Edward Gilder Livestock Haulage, says the proposal would be another nail in the coffin of the AK livestock industry following BSE, foot and mouth and swine fever.