Protestors gathered at the port town of Ramsgate in England last week to witness yet another shipment of calves heading off for export. Sourced from a farm in Scotland, the animals are destined for the veal industry in Spain.
Local group Kent Animal Save monitor and protest live animal exports from this port and say that this truckload of calves was particularly upsetting to see; some of the calves were only a few weeks old — as indicated by their ear tags.
“These were unweaned calves, they were desperately trying to suckle on people’s hands for comfort, they were very distressed,” said Lilibet Marsh from the group.
The export of calves for veal is particularly cruel. Calves that are around two weeks old are still dependent on their mother’s milk and need to feed at least every seven hours. Their immune systems are not yet fully developed and the long journeys take a serious toll on these vulnerable and stressed babies, who are crying for their mothers.
Long-distance transport causes immense suffering. Animals are often injured due to overcrowding, suffer from exhaustion and dehydration, and undergo extreme stress. Many times, the animals arrive in countries that don’t have the same welfare laws as their origin country — they may be abused and beaten during transport and slaughtered in torturous ways.
According to Compassion in World Farming, more than 2.5 million animals were part of the live export trade from the UK in the mid-1990s. By 2010, that number had plummeted to only 4000 sheep – and no calves. Unfortunately, that number is again increasing, particularly through the Ramsgate Port.
Currently, the trade in live animals from the UK cannot legally be banned, as it is classified as the free trade of goods under EU law. Animal activist organizations are calling for maximum journey times of eight hours across Europe, and pushing for a ban on live exports altogether.
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Laissez les animaux vivre heureux et libres ! Aujourd’hui, il est triste de voir tant d’horreurs et de cruautés envers les animaux ! Condamner tous les responsables de ces actes ignobles envers tout ces êtres vivants qui n’ont pas à mourir pour nous !
People who eat Veal are especially heartless!!
Animals deserve to live their lives with their families in the open pasture. These calves should be able to feed in the way nature entails. Please let these poor animals live with their families
Animals deserve to live their lives with their families in the open pasture. These calves should be able to feed in the way nature entails. Please let these poor animals live with their families
English calves have been banned from being shipped since 2012, and the UK is trying to get all live animal shipments!!
PLEASE PEOPLE….GO VEGETARIAN OR VEGAN…YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT & ANIMALS WILL NOT BE SO BRUTALLY MISTREATED & KILLED FOR HUMAN GREED OR FOR FOOD.
OMG…..SO CRUEL AND SO SAD. WE MUST ALL DO ALL WE CAN TO STOP THIS. PETITION, CALL, DONATE AND PROTEST TO STOP THIS.
If you are a compassionate individual & you find this distressing, please, PLEASE go vegan. There is so much cruelty in a single glass of milk.
How do these people have families. Who can live with or love these uncompassionate human beings. I am so tired of trying to appeal to these nut jobs to stop torturing and abusing innocent animals. Nothing we say seems to make a difference to these moronic clowns. They have no hearts or souls. The world will aways be an emotionally crippled planet with sick, heartless, uncompassionate people, such as these, who would hurt animals (especially babies) to make a profit. Again, who could love or give theae people support. The karma that awaits you will be horrendous……and just rememeber it will be what you earned for yourselves and what you deserve ……… be ready.
Your comments hit the nail right on the head Debra! How anyone could lie next to a person at night who does this to a helpless animal is beyond belief. Their sadistic cruelty must ooze from them on a daily basis! Yes- karma awaits them- but not soon enough! Let’s pray this cruelty ends soon, and that people wake up and stop eating meat!!
This is terrible! May God have mearcy on human beings for such cruelty..so sad.
This is a horrific act and those responsible should be charged with animal cruelty!! Do we still live in a medieval times? I pray for this poor bull’s soul and for his forgiveness. Sorry baby!
DISGUSTING AND SAD. IMAGINE SOMEON TEARING YOUR BABY FROM YOUR ARMS AND TOTURING THEM BEFORE THEY THEY KILL THEM. PEOPLE MAKE ME SICK.
My heart is with you poor babies.
These are babies, please stop eating them.
GO VEGAN!!!!
The Scottish Government should be ashamed that they let this continue. Wish they would run the country properly instead of obsessing about another Independence Referendum because they lost the last one.
Get real you idiots.
Basta mangiare carne, di qualsiasi specie!!
These calves need their mothers, farmers you’re being evil & cruel, yes, we know that you breed them for profit, but give them a bit of a life & slaughter them here. Live transportation across different countries is not kind, compassionate or caring. We’ve seen & heard their cries, lots of countries don’t care about innocents, we do. Have some feelings.
Because of callous cruelty such as this, I do not support any part of the beef industry, by also including the fact that in the United States, the horrid beef ranchers are bribing their way through the complete and total decimation of our iconic wild horses….. all for profit. These poor baby cows don’t deserve this either.
Save these calves ! Please, Go Vegan !
It’s time we recognized that all animals are sentient beings. Please take care of all animals and stop cruelty.
It’s time we all recognised that animals are sentient beings and need care not cruelty. All babies belong with their mothers.
GO VEGAN!!! The suffering is IMMENSE for innocent, sweet animals!!!! They are NO different than the dogs, cats and other “pets” we dote on!!!
HOW SAD. PLEASE CONSIDER VEGAN LIFESTYLE. I DID 28 YRS AGO….NEVER A REGRET
Horrendously cruel. These calves need their Mothers. Stop exporting live animals!!!!!!!!! These innocents don’t speak our language, so we’re not listening. Just look into their eyes, says it all.
The exportation of Live Animals for the meat trade must be stopped ASAP. This is legalized brutality.
In Zimbabwe there is a hugely successful campagne to STERILIZATION and vacinate stray animals. I have not read of this eing done in USA or Europe or England, please could this be introduced it would be a long term solution.Rescue dogs are sterilized before being re-homed.
Politicians are failing us badly. Perhaps voters should insist on better laws for animal welfare, particularly when their votes will count? Such an enormous problem.
An enormous thank you to all the people “on the ground” saving these precious animals!
Heartbreaking cruelty. Babies belong with their mothers.
Why on earth do we want to put these animals through this kind of torture and babies for gods sake. Please stop this live exporting as it’s in humane and cruel. The animals speak out for themselves by being stressed
THIS is EXACTLY why I absolutely BOYCOTT veal! No one in my family eats it, it’s not allowed in my home! These poor babies (and mothers) are denied the very basic needs. They are taken from their mothers just hours or days after birth. Taken from their grieving mothers and these poor babies grieve for their mothers! They aren’t allowed sunshine! They are kept in cramped dark stalls/cages, frightened, hungry, thirsty…….they’re not sure what’s going to happen to them but they
know SOMETHING not good is happening. Their mothers KNOW what’s happening, it’s happened too many times! THEN these sweet, innocent, helpless, frightened babies are taken to kill! It’s a horrible life for them and their mothers. I have to wonder if anyone who is doing this to them has ever lost a child? I have! It’s horrible! It causes a hole in your heart that can never be filled and some of the light in your eyes to be put out! If people would STOP eating veal, there’d be no need for this or to do this! Save these babies and keep them with their mothers as long as possible. Let her mother her baby! BOYCOTT VEAL!
Well this could be an upside of Brexit. There will be NO Exports whatsoever
Cruelty needs to STOP!
So sad. How cruel are humans. We should stop this now. Animals are beings for goodness sakes.
WE THE PEOPLE NEED TO STOP THIS BARBARIC TORTURE!
Disgusting! Poor babies, they wouldn’t like their babies to be taken like this!
I’m am so not interested in eating babies!
And I don’t understand anyone who could. That is sooo gross!
Never visiting spain. They are a barbaric country
So true, it’s all those “ religious festivals “ and they are nothing more than appalling cruelty!!
I am saddened that human behavior and thinking feel this is ok. The first thing a human baby has is the suckle of its mothers milk from her breast. This should not be any different for bobby cows or any calf (female or male) or any animal for that matter. To think that denying them of this so humans can have an over consumption of milk is simply nothing but greed and evil. This is simply learned culture/tradition. In some countries its ok to eat dog but no one would ever thing of drinking dog milk. Leave these sentinel begins alone and let them suckle their mothers milk. Humans can drink plant and nut based milk and still get the calcium without all the bovine, hormones and pesticides that are injected into the cows. Cow milk is acid forming so the calcium is not absorbed as one is led to believe. Some plant based milks are not acid forming so the calcium is absorbed in the human bones…. Humans need to change their way of thinking. We cant keep up with the demands of the population. For every cow (1) put on this earth, we have to give them a football field to graze on till they reach the slaughter house and for every football field we have to remove 100’s of trees to create this field… trees that give us the very OXYGEN we need to live and breath… Lets rethink our greedy consumption and not be fearful of change for our own health and mother nature… Lets open our eyes and see that the commercials showing lovely cows grazing in open fields is not true and is a form of brainwashing you to believe you are having a good thing. If you say you are smart and intelligent then start thinking that this is just a fantasy and these poor cows are simply chained up to milking machines, artificially impregnated and their babies are torn away at birth before they can even suckle off their mother purely because a greedy farmer and industry want you to buy their profiting milk. Bobby (male) male cows are taken to the slaughter house and female baby calfs are strapped up to these milking machine soon after. These cows have to endure this cycle again and again. If a commercial was to show how milk is truly made then humans would think twice!
How people continue to do this to these precious animals and still sleep at night is totally beyond belief! Here in Australia we are trying to stop live exports because of the cruelty they endure on the long journey to the Middle East.
I despair for this world and where it is heading- the picture of that poor bull dragging himself away with broken legs is heartbreaking! And those baby calves! Give them food and water and transport them humanely- how hard could that be?? Please everyone!!! Help these animals and keep signing these petitions !!
Deb- Sydney- Australia
the cruelty you commit in this life, will be the same torment in your after life!
This is truly disgusting!
All this cruelty and thoughtless treatment of these animals is sad, depressing, in humane and very evil!