Calves Aren’t Cargo: As export season opens, Brittany Ferries chooses profit over calf welfare

As the peak season for exporting unweaned calves from Ireland to France begins, Brittany Ferries has confirmed it will continue transporting these animals, despite serious animal welfare and legal concerns.

This decision means that very young calves will once again be subjected to long journeys on ferries, as they are sold to fattening and veal farms in the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, and other EU countries. Taken from their mothers in Ireland and treated as cargo, they face trips during which they cannot be fed — one of the most basic welfare standards for young animals who are still dependent on milk.

EU Regulation 1/2005 sets strict requirements for unweaned calves during transport, including feeding if necessary, after 9 hours of transport, yet on these long 18+ hour crossings, it is impossible to meet these basic requirements. This leaves Brittany Ferries in deep water — facilitating a trade that is in breach of EU animal welfare law.

Since last autumn, FOUR PAWS and other animal welfare NGOs Compassion in World Farming and Welfarm, have been in direct discussions with Brittany Ferries’ CEO and senior management, raising evidence-based concerns and calling on the company to stop transporting unweaned calves.

Despite initial engagement, Brittany Ferries has now made its position clear: it will not commit to ending the transport of unweaned calves. For FOUR PAWS and other NGOs involved, this decision is deeply disappointing and difficult to justify. At this point, discussions with the company have ended.

Whilst Brittany Ferries do have sustainable options to exit the cruel trade, they made it clear that this decision comes down to one thing, profit.

We will never stay silent whilst the most vulnerable suffer. Companies such as Brittany Ferries must take responsibility for ending this cruel trade, and we must work together to hold them publicly accountable for their actions.

A recent European survey revealed that 83% of EU citizens agree that very young or unweaned animals should not be transported long distances. This figure shows clearly that citizens care and change is needed. Brittany Ferries customers in Ireland, France, the UK and beyond should be aware of the business decisions that the company has taken, and it’s vital to publicly expose the reality of the suffering of unweaned calves on their ferries.

To build this pressure – we need your help.

Most unweaned calves are transported from Ireland to France between March and May, by Brittany Ferries and its competitor Irish Ferries, making the coming weeks a decisive period. Together with NGOs across Europe, we cannot accept that more calves are subjected to these journeys during which they go unfed for long hours, in clear contradiction with the most basic principles of animal welfare.

Ending these transports now depends on a crucial first step: persuading Brittany Ferries, the most recent operator to enter this trade on this route, to withdraw from it.

Brittany Ferries places strong emphasis on its public image and on its environmental and social commitments. It is time for the company to extend those commitments to animals and to end these cruel transports.

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