Another Tomorrow strongly supports the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill, which has the power to ban live exports from Britain and end the inhumane treatment of live animals transported by road, rail, sea, or air across or between continents.
Another Tomorrow offers a collection of sustainable wardrobe essentials with a mission of reinventing luxury in service of our shared tomorrow. The brand is committed to a values system based on respect for human, animal, and environmental welfare through support of living wages, humane animal practices and science-based environmental impact. Compassion in World Farming is one of Another Tomorrow’s philanthropic partners, selected as our Animal Welfare Cause. As a philanthropic partner, we have pledged support to collaboratively address animal welfare issues in the apparel industry and beyond.
CiWF has been leading efforts to support the ban on live exports since initiating the first annual Ban Live Exports: International Awareness Day on June 14, 2016 (1). The date was chosen in remembrance of the day of an incident in 2015 when 13,000 sheep died during a sea journey from Romania to Somalia. This horrific example of the deathly effects of live exports recently occurred again this year, when more than 15,000 sheep drowned after a live export ship sank in Sudan on June 12, 2022. These tragedies reinforce the urgent need for action to be taken to ban live exports in the UK and set an example for countries across the globe to follow.
Every year, 3 million live animals from the EU alone–calves, sheep, and pigs– are transported by road, rail, sea, or air across or between continents. Frightened animals often endure terrible conditions including overcrowding, exhaustion, dehydration, and extreme temperatures which cause agonizing pain and distress (2). Additionally, when animals are exported from Europe to countries outside the EU, they leave behind all legal protection they were once guaranteed, putting them at risk of abuse during transport and at the time of slaughter.
The United States is one of the world’s leaders in the live animal trade industry, moving an average of 120 million animals every year. Federal law mandates a limit of 28 hours by land or 36 hours by sea for live animal transport– almost two days without water, food, or rest. The route can be long, stressful, and dangerous, especially for the many unweaned babies. Without enough room to move or lie down, animals must endure hours standing in unhygienic conditions. Many die en route, due to overcrowding and extreme temperatures (4).
For over thirty years, enforcement of EU law on the protection of animals has fallen short (1). Despite the existence of Regulation 1/2005 which states that “No animal shall be transported unless it is fit for the intended journey, and all animals shall be transported in conditions guaranteed not to cause them injury or unnecessary suffering,” animals still suffer abuse (3). From exceeding maximum permitted temperature to transporting unweaned animals on journeys over 8 hours without feeding them, the Regulation is continuously ignored (1). CiWF believes that the export of animals to non-EU countries must be prohibited and the organization is also calling for an eight hour limit to be placed on transport within the EU for fattening or slaughter (2). Until these reforms are adopted, much better implementation of EU legislation on welfare during transport must be achieved.
Recently, on September 28th, 2022, New Zealand passed an amendment bill banning live exports, two years after storms sank a livestock ship that killed 41 crew members and 6,000 cattle. Now it’s time for the UK Government to ban live exports from Britain.
We encourage you to join us in the following actions:
1. We support the demands of CiWF and encourage you to sign their petition to urge the EU Commission to review the EU Transport Regulation.
2. British citizens and UK residents: please sign this petition urging Parliament to take the Kept Animals Bill through Parliament and make it law.
3. Please also sign this ecard to George Eustice, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to tell the Government that live exports must be banned without further delay.
Another Tomorrow is proud to support a ban on live exports and we urge the UK Government to pass this legislation as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
(1) Help end live animal exports. Compassion in World Farming. (2022, June 7). Retrieved September 9, 2022, from https://www.ciwf.com/news/2022/06/help-end-live-animal-exports
(2) EU Animal Transport. Ban Live Exports. (2022, May 6). Retrieved September 9, 2022, from https://stoplivetransport.org/eu-animal-transport/
(3) Bachelard, N. (2022). Animal Transport as regulated in Europe: A work in progress as viewed by an NGO. Animal Frontiers, 12(1), 16–24. https://doi.org/10.1093/af/vfac010
(4) CIWF