Warnings issued after crackdown on live exports

摘要

A crackdown by campaigners against livestock exports has seen animal welfare inspectors issue two warning notices at a UK port for the first time in more than a decade. RSPCA officials and a vet inspected conditions on board four lorries preparing tocross the English Channel from the port of Ramsgate, Kent. The suitability of the vehicles - carrying about 1,800 sheep and 100 calves - was also examined. Two hauliers were issued with RSPCA warning notices - one for having broken ventilation fans and another for mixing sheep, some with horns, from different flocks in the same lorry. Animal Health officials issued similar warnings. The inspections came as campaigners against livestock exports pledged zero tolerance to animal welfare breaches. The RSPCA opposes the long-distance transport of livestock for slaughter or further fattening. But the vet was satisfied the animals were fit to travel.