100 signatures reached
To: Nicola sturgeon . First Minister of Scotland
Ban Live Animal Export Scotland
A new vote in Holyrood on the Ban of the live export of animals from Scotland
Why is this important?
In 2016, around 2,400 sheep were sent from Scotland for slaughter to Germany and France and 3,000 week old Scottish calves were exported to Spain. In 2017, it was even worse. 3,073 sheep, 5,595 calves and 661 cattle were exported from Scotland for either slaughter or fattening;
More than 5,000 young calves discarded from the dairy industry were sent from Scotland to Spain in journeys lasting up to 135 hours.
The long-distance transport of live animals to Europe is a serious animal welfare problem. Animals are made to travel in cramped conditions with insufficient water supplies, uncontrolled temperatures and inadequate rest periods. Older animals travelling often give birth in lorries, while other animals suffer injuries and even die before they reach their destination.
For the animals that survive the journey, there’s a risk that Scottish animal welfare standards will simply not be met by abattoirs overseas. For example, there have been reports of sheep taken from Scotland to France being subjected to inhumane and illegal slaughterhouse practises.
Calves in France beaten and abused at rest point . https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/calves-beaten-hit-video-footage-violence-animals-live-exports-europe-a8899631.html
Animals are sentient beings that feel pain and stress in the same way as we do. There is no escaping the fact that animals are suffering.
The Scottish Government has stated that no one is comfortable with the issue of male dairy calves being exported.
The dairy industry ensures maximum lactation and production from dairy cows. Male calves have no value in the process, so the majority are exported for fattening in Spain and then moved on for slaughter in north Africa. It cannot be guaranteed that that will be done in compliance with the welfare standards that apply in Scotland.
I ask the Scottish Government to at least consider a ban, it is clear that this cruel trade—and the suffering that goes with it—will continue under the radar until this is fully banned.
The UK Government has made it clear that a ban could still be the outcome of the consultation. Therefore, instead of pressurising a ferry company to circumvent its own policies and begin accepting live exports again, the Scottish Government should be spending its time working with its Westminster counterparts to address the glaring and urgent concerns about animal welfare.
We have a rare opportunity to update welfare standards that the European Commission itself has admitted show poor performance and in relation to which there is poor compliance.
The current standards were set more than 12 years ago. before the sentience of animals was legally recognised and, since then, the scientific and veterinary evidence has repeatedly stated that we should avoid transporting young calves as much as possible. We should be embracing with both hands this opportunity to bring forward a live export ban.
Will you listen to the 73 per cent of voters who support an export ban, the ethical dairy sector and the scientific evidence that says that the current practice has to stop? Alternatively, will it continue to resist change at all costs, painting Scotland as a nation that puts cheap high-volume production ahead of sustainability, ethics and animal welfare
Source: one kind & from parlimentory debate raised by colin smythe - Scottish labour party on the Export of Live Animals for Slaughtering and Fattening
– in the Scottish Parliament on 30th October 2018.
More than 5,000 young calves discarded from the dairy industry were sent from Scotland to Spain in journeys lasting up to 135 hours.
The long-distance transport of live animals to Europe is a serious animal welfare problem. Animals are made to travel in cramped conditions with insufficient water supplies, uncontrolled temperatures and inadequate rest periods. Older animals travelling often give birth in lorries, while other animals suffer injuries and even die before they reach their destination.
For the animals that survive the journey, there’s a risk that Scottish animal welfare standards will simply not be met by abattoirs overseas. For example, there have been reports of sheep taken from Scotland to France being subjected to inhumane and illegal slaughterhouse practises.
Calves in France beaten and abused at rest point . https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/calves-beaten-hit-video-footage-violence-animals-live-exports-europe-a8899631.html
Animals are sentient beings that feel pain and stress in the same way as we do. There is no escaping the fact that animals are suffering.
The Scottish Government has stated that no one is comfortable with the issue of male dairy calves being exported.
The dairy industry ensures maximum lactation and production from dairy cows. Male calves have no value in the process, so the majority are exported for fattening in Spain and then moved on for slaughter in north Africa. It cannot be guaranteed that that will be done in compliance with the welfare standards that apply in Scotland.
I ask the Scottish Government to at least consider a ban, it is clear that this cruel trade—and the suffering that goes with it—will continue under the radar until this is fully banned.
The UK Government has made it clear that a ban could still be the outcome of the consultation. Therefore, instead of pressurising a ferry company to circumvent its own policies and begin accepting live exports again, the Scottish Government should be spending its time working with its Westminster counterparts to address the glaring and urgent concerns about animal welfare.
We have a rare opportunity to update welfare standards that the European Commission itself has admitted show poor performance and in relation to which there is poor compliance.
The current standards were set more than 12 years ago. before the sentience of animals was legally recognised and, since then, the scientific and veterinary evidence has repeatedly stated that we should avoid transporting young calves as much as possible. We should be embracing with both hands this opportunity to bring forward a live export ban.
Will you listen to the 73 per cent of voters who support an export ban, the ethical dairy sector and the scientific evidence that says that the current practice has to stop? Alternatively, will it continue to resist change at all costs, painting Scotland as a nation that puts cheap high-volume production ahead of sustainability, ethics and animal welfare
Source: one kind & from parlimentory debate raised by colin smythe - Scottish labour party on the Export of Live Animals for Slaughtering and Fattening
– in the Scottish Parliament on 30th October 2018.
How it will be delivered
The first minister . Nicola sturgeon. Scottish parliament
