We believe that all animals should be slaughtered close to the point of production, and we have for many years been calling for the replacement of long-distance transportation of livestock for slaughter with a 'carcass only' trade. We believe that the frequency and duration of all live animal transport, whether for slaughter, further fattening or breeding, should be minimised and that conditions during travel should be as good as possible, with animal welfare looked after by properly trained, caring staff.
Some of the work we have been doing to improve animal welfare during live transport includes:
Global Long Distance Transport Coalition
RSPCA staff have been closely involved with the Global Long Distance Transport Coalition's 'Handle with Care' campaign and contributed to the latest report. The Global Long Distance Transport Coalition website contains videos of some of the worst long distance live transport routes in each continent of the world.
Developing RSPCA welfare standards for farm animals
We are able to improve the lives of over 63 million farm animals each year using our RSPCA welfare standards for farm animals. These have been developed for nine of the most commonly farmed species and include hundreds of requirements to ensure higher standards of welfare for all animals reared accordingly. Each document includes requirements, based on scientific evidence and practical experience, covering areas such as maximum permitted journey times, training of staff, humane handling of animals during loading and unloading, and adequate space provision during journeys.
Lobbying for better laws to protect animal welfare
We would like to see much better EU-wide laws, that are properly enforced, to protect farm animals during transport. We take every opportunity to put forward our views to governments and other key decision makers (both EU and UK). For example, our scientific staff sit on committees such as the ‘Council of Europe Working Party and Drafting Group on protection of animals during international transport’.
Live export of male dairy calves
Further information about how were working to solve this welfare problem is available on our dairy cattle pages.
If you share our concerns, you may like to know more about how you can help.