Ferries put lid on live exports
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by Miles Brignall • Animal rights extremists have all but won their war against the transport of live animals abroad because none of the major ferry firms will allow livestock hauliers to use their services.
A year after the cattle trade to Europe suffered the double-whammy of BSE and demos, farmers both in the UK and the Irish Republic are turning away export orders for sheep and pigs because there is no way of getting them out of the country.
Hundreds of livestock hauliers have been forced to diversify into other areas of haulage or to scale down their operations. Cheltenham-based livestock carrier Peter Gilder has reduced his fleet from 27 units and trailers to just five last year. "It's an absolute disgrace," he says. "What the ferries are doing amounts to a restraint of trade and neither the Government nor the Road Haulage Association is doing anything about it."
Welshpool operator ME Edwards & Son still carries sheep to the Continent on the only livestock ferry still operating out of Dover, but it faces long waits and restrictions. "We have to wait until it's full and pay for both trips even though we often come home empty with one of the other ferry companies," says transport manager Jim Ralph. Of the 15 trucks Edwards operates, five go abroad.
Other livestock hauliers such as Coldstream-based °livers Transport have given up and moved into other areas of haulage. All the major ferry companies confirm that they will no longer carry livestock trucks unless the animals are being moved for breeding purposes. Stena will not even take empty livestock trucks returning from Europe.