Despite stating that the transport of unweaned calves from Ireland to France is in breach of EU law, the European Commission has so far failed to take action against it, says Ethical Farming Ireland.
In an audit report published in December 2023, the Commission claimed the journey was in breach of Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport, as the calves are not being fed during the long ferry crossing to France. In most cases, these animals are left unfed for up to 30 hours, sometimes more.
A group of animal welfare NGOs have now joined forces to call on the Commission to intervene. They are also directly urging one of the major shipping companies on this route, Stena Line, to immediately put an end to the transport.
Ireland continues to export large numbers of unweaned calves annually, with an estimated 160,000 already transported this year.
Unweaned calves, as young as 15 days old and dependent on milk, are transported in trucks, around 300 in each, on a roll on roll off ferry for the 18-hour sea crossing to Cherbourg, France. While the EU Regulation states that unweaned calves must be fed after a maximum of 19 hours, this is not possible because at that stage the calves are stuck in a truck and they need to be unloaded to…