No Harbour for Cruelty: Brittany Ferries Ends Live Animal Transport

A little over a year ago, we asked FOUR PAWS supporters in the UK to send Brittany Ferries a clear message: its decision to resume transporting live farmed animals was a deeply disappointing betrayal of animal welfare.

You responded, and the company has now listened. 

From 1 September 2026, Brittany Ferries will stop transporting live farmed animals from Ireland to France. The decision will bring an end to the company’s involvement in the long-distance transport of vulnerable, unweaned calves and represents an important victory for everyone who spoke out.

For three decades, Brittany Ferries had refused to participate in the live export trade. But in February 2025, the company made a shocking U-turn and began carrying animals between Ireland and France.

Among those transported were calves just a few weeks old, separated from their mothers and subjected to exhausting journeys across land and sea. Many travelled for more than 18 hours without food, before continuing by road to destinations including the Netherlands, Spain and Poland. Some journeys could last as long as 50 hours.

FOUR PAWS joined animal welfare organisations across Europe in urging Brittany Ferries to reconsider. We signed an open letter and, crucially, invited our UK supporters to contact senior figures at the company directly.

Thousands of people helped make it clear that passengers did not want to travel with a ferry operator profiting from the suffering of vulnerable animals. The message was simple: calves are living, feeling animals, not cargo.

Brittany Ferries initially refused to change course. But campaigners did not give up. Supporters continued writing, sharing, and speaking out, while animal welfare organisations maintained pressure on the company.

Its decision to end these transports shows why persistence matters.

This victory follows Stena Line’s announcement that it had permanently stopped transporting live, unweaned calves from Ireland to France. Two major ferry operators have now recognised that there is no acceptable place for this trade in a responsible transport industry.

Every calf spared one of these gruelling journeys makes this decision worth celebrating. It also demonstrates something bigger: companies can, and must, be held accountable for animal suffering connected to their business decisions.

But the route to ending this cruelty is not yet complete.

Irish Ferries is now the only ferry operator continuing to carry unweaned calves from Ireland to France. With both Stena Line and Brittany Ferries withdrawing from the trade, Irish Ferries is becoming increasingly isolated.

We are calling on the company to read the tide, follow the example set by its competitors, and end its involvement in this suffering.

Today, we celebrate what determined campaigning has achieved, and thank every supporter who sent a message to Brittany Ferries. Your voices helped persuade the company to change course.

Tomorrow, we continue working towards a future in which animals are transported as meat and carcasses, rather than forced to endure long journeys alive.

Live export must never be allowed to find a harbour for its cruelty.