Ferry site majors on welfare
7 March 2000
Ferry site majors on welfare
By FWi staff
FARMERS Ferry, the controversial live export company, has launched a website in a bid to demonstrate that animal welfare is top of its agenda.
The move follows criticism of the live export trade by welfare campaigners who want a ban on animal shipments between Britain and the Continent.
A virtual tour of the ship and its loading operations is included on the site, showing transportation facilities and where animals are kept during transit.
Information is also given on sailing times between Dover and Dunkirk, the number of animals exported and the value of the live export trade.
David Owen, Farmers Ferry chief executive, described the website as a “full reference book” on what the company is doing and its operations.
“While the tour is virtual, the realities are our actual concern and the website gives everyone the opportunity to see what goes on,” he said.
Similar Internet sites are used by animal welfare groups, such as Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), which are campaigning for a ban on live exports.
CIWF believes that the long-distance transport of animals should be ended throughout the European Union and replaced by a carcass trade.
Although Farmers Ferry has unveiled an initiative to boost the carcass trade, the company claims that live exports remain vital for hard-up livestock producers.