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European Livestock Campaign
News review 2002
February 2002—Caravan Aid
In February an exciting new project commenced in Yugoslavia. A mobile caravan was purchased by Naturewatch to act as an information centre at livestock markets in Yugoslavia. With the support of Animals Angels and the Donkey Sanctuary, the local welfare society ARKA set up the caravan at Ruma where a regular market is held each month. The caravan and its team, including a qualified vet, were on hand all day to offer free aid and advice to both the farmers and the buyers of the animals.
At present in Yugoslavia the only way to get help to the animals is by building up trust with those involved at the market. Information flyers were handed out to everyone and the vet, Dr Milan Savovic, engaged the local farmers explaining the importance of ensuring that their animals are well cared for and healthy. Sadly many of the animals arriving at market are being sold because they are old and cannot work any longer.
Journalists arrived keen to make a good story of this new initiative. In this country, ravaged by war, times are very hard for both the people and animals. But everyone agreed that the best way forward will be to continue to develop and build up trust between ARKA and the local farming community.
May 2002
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The impact of the ‘Caravan aid’ project has been enormous. The ARKA team have really gained the trust of the animal traders who are now open to advice and veterinary assistance—with brilliant welfare results. These terrible sights are now thankfully becoming increasingly rare.
June 2002
During her investigations in France, Lesley has created an excellent communications network with Market Directors and with the Gendarmerie. As a result many Markets are now considering the idea of adopting a voluntary code of practice. In addition to this the Gendarmes have asked Lesley to create a training publication regarding animal transportation laws and lorry controls. When completed this will be issued across the force.
This is fantastic progress but there is still a long way to go. Authorities in France appear to be listening but we need to get the message through to every European nation and every livestock market:
Cruelty, neglect and causing suffering to animals at markets is not acceptable under any circumstances, and should be regulated and punishable by law.
Naturewatch hopes to develop the concept of ‘caravan aid’ in an attempt to fill the huge void of ignorance evident in so many livestock markets. We also need to lobby the European Parliament to create new and effective legislation to protect the welfare of animals at market.
September 2002 - Brighter Future for European Livestock
Naturewatch has just returned from a meeting with MEPs at the European Parliament in Brussels to discuss ways of improving conditions for livestock in European markets and to tighten up regulations in transportation.
MEPs have been overwhelmed by the number of letters they have received from Naturewatch supporters. Thanks to you, the livestock issue is now well and truly on the European political agenda! For this reason, we are asking Naturewatch supporters not to write any more letters on our behalf on this issue, as our MEPs are now committed to working with us. Other animal welfare groups throughout Europe are now campaigning along similar lines and hopefully their MEPs will also soon be pushing for change. |
 Naturewatch representatives John Ruane and Christine Lee meet Neil Parish
MEP Conservative Agriculture and Fisheries Spokesman in the European Parliament (centre) |
What have your letters achieved?
In response to our campaign, most MEPs have contacted the European Commission. The Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection has responded by saying that his department ‘is committed to use its powers to help stop unacceptable animal welfare practices’, and that ‘there is a need to improve animal welfare in livestock markets at EU level.’
They are proposing to include livestock markets in the
European Animal Live Transport Directive, which is currently under review. A
new draft should be produced by November – we await it with interest!
We’ve just heard that livestock markets and transport was the first item
for discussion at the recent European Agriculture Council meeting, and the
Commission again stated that it was committed to making improvements.
Ciney updateWhile in Brussels, we were shown a copy of a letter from the Ciney livestock market authorities to a British MEP, stating that a vast programme of improvements had been started. You may remember that Ciney was one of the Belgian markets where scenes of unspeakable cruelty were commonplace, and exposure of its inhumane conditions was one of the starting points of this campaign. Just recently, Animals’ Angels sent undercover investigators to Ciney to check out the truth of this letter. They visited on two separate occasions and, we are delighted to say, they have reported back that Ciney has improved vastly. |
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An additional bonus
An unexpected extra benefit of the vast amount of letters from Naturewatch supporters is that the campaign has also been officially registered as a formal petition by the European Parliament’s office in Luxembourg. While not something we have specifically asked for, this means that the campaign letter is to be translated into the eleven official EU languages and submitted to a special petitions committee for consideration, giving us another angle of approach. We will let you know what happens!
So thanks to you, the future looks better for European livestock. We’ll publish details of the EU revisions as soon as we have them and will let you know where we go from here.
