Madam, - The vast majority of Irish people were shocked by the recent revelations regarding the horrific conditions dogs were subjected to on puppy farms around the country. But the situation of farm animals on long-distance transport is no different. Animals are being kept for long periods of time in cramped, overheated and filthy conditions. Many of them are injured in the process; Some even die and remain in the midst of the other animals until they reach their destination.
I, along with the Greens in Europe, have been campaigning on the issue of live exports and long distance transport of animals for many years, hoping for an end to this cruelty.
It was therefore with regret that we arrived at a situation last month where keeping the existing EU animal transport regulations were a better option than adopting the so called "Irish compromise" put forward by the Irish Presidency.
These proposals would have made a bad situation worse. They did not even include a journey limit on animals travelling for slaughter. In fact the Irish proposals were so poor that they would have resulted in animals having even less protection than under the current rules.
The Council of Agriculture Ministers rejected the compromise proposals. This was largely due to efforts by the German Minister for Agriculture, a member of the Green Party. She is to be congratulated for the stance she took in support of animal welfare.
Prior to this meeting, the European Parliament had spent months discussing the EU Commission's proposed new rules for animal transport. While the position finally adopted fell far short of what the European Greens and animal welfare groups would like, it did go some way towards addressing the most glaring animal cruelty problems.
In particular the Parliament called for a maximum journey limit of nine hours for animals travelling for slaughter. Together with the Greens in Europe I will continue our campaign to achieve this aim.
- Yours, etc.,
PATRICIA McKENNA, MEP, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2.