22^nd May 2005

PRESS RELEASE FROM COMPASSION IN WORLD FARMING - IRELAND

ANIMAL WELFARE GROUP URGES DELEGATES AT OIE MEETING IN PARIS THIS COMING WEEK TO VOTE ‘YES’ ON FIRST-EVER GLOBAL STANDARDS FOR ANIMAL TRANSPORT.

A harrowing new film by leading international farm animal welfare organisation, Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), showing the horrors of the world’s farm animal transport trade, is to be shown to delegates from 160 nations as they prepare to vote on measures that could greatly improve the welfare of animals being transported internationally.

CIWF will be showing the film, Animal Welfare: The World Is Watching, to delegates from the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) - the veterinary equivalent of the World Health Organisation - as they gather in Paris on Monday 23^rd May.

Over the forthcoming days, the delegates will debate OIE proposals to adopt the first-ever global standards for live farm animal transport and slaughter, with a final decision expected on Thursday 26th May.

The proposed standards emphasise that animal welfare should be considered throughout transportation. They stress the need for rest periods, that food and water be provided and also outlaw certain transit practices. The OIE is also considering welfare standards for slaughter.

CIWF is urging all delegates to support the standards. CIWF-Ireland has urged the Irish delegate, Mr. Paddy Rogan (Chief Veterinarian, Department of Agriculture & Food) to support the standards.

CIWF’s film shows:

· Dead farm animals piled on the deck of a ship, which travelled from Australia to Kuwait: survivors went for slaughter without any pre-stunning.

· Horses transported for several days from Namibia to South Africa: some with broken limbs, others too exhausted or ill to stand.

· Pigs, who endured a hellish 28-hour journey from Canada to California without food or water in intense heat, were held for 34 hours in ship containers and then suffered a five-day sea journey to Hawaii.

· Appalling scenes of botched and cruel slaughter in abattoirs.

The film contains messages from campaigners in Australia, Brazil, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Hungary, India, Ireland (CIWF-Ireland’s Director, Mary-Anne Bartlett), Israel, Norway, Romania, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and USA.

Mary-Anne Bartlett, Director of CIWF-Ireland, says: “CIWF’s film will leave OIE delegates in no doubt whatsoever that global standards for the care of animals in transit are long overdue. For while some countries have laws regarding farm animal transport, many do not. At present, there are no internationally agreed guidelines to encourage the humane care of animals in transit.

The proposed standards are a basic minimum and are not legally enforceable. But it is crucial they are adopted by the OIE because they provide a comprehensive basis for global welfare improvements in animal transport and slaughter. They could also form the basis of new animal welfare laws in many countries that currently don’t have any.”

CIWF’s film will be shown at a CIWF reception for the OIE on 23^rd May and is the culmination of a huge CIWF campaign to persuade delegates to adopt the new welfare standards.