OneKind is delighted to welcome David Martin, Scotland’s senior Member of the European Parliament, as a guest blogger.
David Martin is Vice-President of the European Parliament's Intergroup on Animal Welfare and Vice-President of OneKind. He has been a long-time campaigner on many animal welfare issues including stricter legislation on the transportation of animals in Europe.
Next time you are sitting for what seems like forever in traffic or in an airport lounge, waiting to be on your way, you might spare a thought for the six million farmed animals – calves, sheep, pigs, horses, goats and cattle - forced to travel hundreds or thousands of miles by road, rail, sea or air each year.
Transported animals face overcrowding and injury from being held in very confined spaces, not to mention the death or suffering caused by hunger, thirst, heat, cold or lack of sleep. There are also the risks from infectious diseases such as foot and mouth and bluetongue; these can be spread over great distances by animal transportation.
All this makes the strong argument that if animals are going to be farmed then they should be slaughtered as near to home as possible, with the transportation of meat products replacing the need to transport live animals. And it can be done.
I have campaigned for years in the European Parliament on animal transport, including my support for the historic Written Declaration of 2003 which led to the introduction of the Regulation that currently governs animal transport. But the Regulation failed to address journey times satisfactorily, and this is why I continue to work with like-minded colleagues in the European Parliament to achieve an 8 hour journey limit for farmed animals to slaughter.
Only last month, experts from the transport industry, veterinarians and NGOs told members of the European Intergroup on Animal welfare of the daily realities of animal transport in Europe. The scale of suffering has been repeatedly confirmed by scientific studies and acknowledged by reports from the EU’s own Veterinary Inspectors and well known and respected NGOs.
Despite the law having been in place for several years, there are still serious problems in the way the rules are being applied by the sector and enforced by the authorities throughout Europe. Review and reform of the EU Transport Regulation are urgently needed, and we have told the Commission this, in the strongest terms.
Meanwhile, I am happy to say that I support and have signed the 8Hour petition calling for an 8 hour journey limit. The aim of this EU-wide campaign is to collect 1,000,000 signatures and it has already achieved the support of over 250,000 citizens.
Please, I would urge all kind-hearted Scots and people from around Europe to do likewise and sign the 8Hours petition.
A million-signature petition would be something the Commission would find hard to ignore. It only takes a minute to save our fellow creatures from hours or even days of suffering. We must take action now: Together we can make a difference.
Have you looked into the drivers for not slaughtering close to where livestock are reared? Even in the UK where the livestock hauliers are scrupulous about welfare we still have the anomaly of live sheep going down to Wales for slaughter from Scotland and being sold as Welsh lamb and at the same time Welsh lamb coming up here to be sold as Scotch lamb. It’s all for the benefit of the supermarket’s business model and certainly compromises the welfare of the sheep.
Hi. This petition only allows certain countries to sign. Many, many very obscure countries that I have never heard of, but not Australia and New Zealand, where I live. I can’t fathom this at all. Can you say why?
Hi Daye and Kath, thanks for your contributions to the debate. Yes Daye the optimum position is for animals to be slaughtered near to where they are reared. The specific example you mention would need further legislation as the time scales are within the Directive, but I agree it is a crazy situation.
I don’t know the answer to that Kath but will look into it, it seems a strange anomaly.
ITS GOOD TO KNOW THAT YOU ARE ON THE SIDE OF THE VOICELESS. THE CRUELTY THAT GOES ON IS UNBELIEVABLE, AND AS GHANDI SAID “YOU CAN JUDGE A NATION BY THE WAY THEY TREAT THEIR ANIMALS “. VERY TRUE IN MY BOOK, SO PLEASE LETS HELP OUR ANIMALS WHO DONT HAVE A VOICE OR A CHOICE AND RESPECT THEM AND LET THEM HAVE A LIFE WHERE THEY CAN LIVE AS GOD INTENDED, AND THAT WAS NOT TO BE USED/ABUSED /TORTURED/SLAUGHTERED AFTER ALL ITS THEIR WORLD TOO.!