Livestock - Movement and Transport

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Why do we move animals?

  • Meat production - slaughter
  • Breeding - mix the gene pool
  • Shows - e.g., Romsey and others
  • For medical treatment - not available on site for some reason
  • Relocation
    • some animals are shared, moved for enrichment, changes to collections or collections close
  • conservation, release wild capture and for various reasons
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Welfare of Animals (Transport)(England) Order 2006

  • journey times should not be longer than 8 hours unless
    • the vehicle carries enough food and water for the journey
    • in the case of pigs, enough water for the journey must be carried on board and the journey must not exceed 24 hours
    • in the case of cattle, sheep and goats, after fourteen hours a rest period of at least one hour must be given, to enable drinking and if necessary, feeding
    • at the end of the journey animals must be unloaded, fed and watered and rested for at least 24 hours
    • there is sufficient bedding
    • animals can be accessed directly
    • ventilation is adequate and can be adjusted according to temperature
    • movable panels for the creation of separate compartments
  • animals likely to give birth during a journey or which have given birth in the last 48 hours or which are newly born must not be transported
  • infant animals who cannot yet feed themselves cannot be transported without their mother
  • if animals fall ill it is the transporter's duty of provide care in the form of first aid and contact veterinary surgeon if necessary
  • must be escape proof, and noise should be minimised
  • lighting should be adequate for inspection purposes
  • trailer must be cleaned before the loading of animals for a journey, unless animal waste is removed regularly, there must be plenty of litter on the ground
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Animal Welfare Act 2006

  • transport must not cause any unnecessary suffering
  • adequate space must be provided for animals in transit
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Other legislation affecting transport:

  • Welfare of Animals at Markets Order 1993
  • The Welfare of Farmed Animals Regulations 2007
  • Welfare of Animals (Slaughter) Regulations 1995
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Enforcement

  • Local authorities carry the responsibility for checks and enforcing the law
  • DEFRA will do specific pretravel inspections in some cases but local authorities for each area can:
    • stop the transport of a group of animals
    • change how someone is carrying out the transporting
    • tell a transporter to go back to where they started via the most direct route
    • hold animals until a resolution to an offence has been found
    • have the animals humanely slaughtered
    • insist the means of transport is repaired or replaced before the journey can continue
  • if you break these laws you could be fined up to £5000 or put in prison for six months
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