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 
EC shuns animal curbs
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• European Parliament moves to curb the transport of live animals have been rejected by EC Agriculture Commissioner Ray MacSharry.
He has accepted the principle that long-distance transport should not be necessary because of the availability of slaughterhouses throughout the Community, and agrees that it would be better to switch to transporting carcases or chilled meat. But he warns that the suggestion that no slaughterhouse journey should exceed eight hours would cause "significant harm" to some meat producers.
Faced by 42 amendments requested by MEPs to Commission proposals for new transport rules, MacSharry concedes that no distinction should be made for animals going for slaughter. The Brussels draft would have allowed journey times to slaughterhouses to exceed those laid down for animals going for breeding.
Moves by British MEPs to allow Whitehall to retain national powers over the transport of horses to slaughter on the Continent have been rejected. The Commissioner says that if it is possible to transport expensive horses humanely, it should also be possible to transport low-value horses humanely.
He predicts greater control of the trade in live animals and is considering the creation of an EC veterinary inspection agency to ensure that the rules are applied equally in all 12 member states.
ClMonock Freight, which was fined 25,000 with £4,000 costs last week after 79 beagle puppies suffocated to death on one of its trucks on a ferry to Sweden, says it will no longer transport dogs.
The Middlesex-based general haulier says the work "was a one-off', and that the incident happened because the vehicle's back roller shutter had been closed, to avoid interference by animal liberation extremists. Director John Weber says: "I would not have expected a qualified person to leave the animals in a closed box for up to eight hours."