A symbolic 468-mile drive by the Compassion in World Farming Trucking Hell lorry will end in Ramsgate today (June 13).
The 10 hour drive, from Scotland to Ramsgate, is part of a rally to protest against the long-distance transport of live farmed animals. The route is the one used for the live export of sheep and calves destined to be boarded on the Joline at Ramsgate Port.
The lorry will be met by anti-live export campaigners. It is due to arrive at Government Acre at 5pm and is part of a global day of action.
Campaigners say the sheep and calves travel in overcrowded conditions at risk of being trampled to death.
A spokesman said: “The pressure on policy makers is mounting, but tens of thousands of live animals are still being exported from the UK every year. This suffering must stop. Join us to provide a voice for farm animals, and campaign for the end of this horrific trade.”
Sheep and, more recently calves are coming through Ramsgate after P&O Ferries stopped taking the shipments.
Thanet council – at the time with a Labour ruling group -banned exports from Ramsgate after 47 sheep died at the port in September 2012 but they were forced to make a U-turn by the High Court.
TDC has since paid more than £5.1 million in compensation to individuals and companies involved in the export of live farm animals from the port of Ramsgate for loss of trade.
The claims followed the High Court ruling in December 2013 that TDC’s ban was unlawful and in breach of EU free trade regulations.
Follow the truck’s progress here: https://stoplivetransport.org/truck-journey/
This is obviously another reason for leaving the EU. We will then be in a position to decide on the fate of our animals. It is a sickening crime and one which those who support the EU should be addressing. They are our animals and we will decide how they are treated.
Perhaps we should be staying in the EU where our MEPs could have a say in animal welfare for more than one member state.
The long distance transport of animals has little to do with the EU. European animal welfare standards are far superior to countries such ad the USA, with whom we would have to trade post Brexit.
The issue with TDC and the port is that TDC illegally banned the shipment of the animals. Those animals had already been in trucks for hours driving through the UK. They were in a state when they reached Ramsgate, not because they were here.