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Anger at port's live animal exports
Animal welfare campaigners are planning to protest outside a Suffolk port tonight after learning it will be shipping livestock to mainland Europe.
The Port of Ipswich is handling the trade for the next two weeks because the berth at Dover usually used for exports is currently closed for repairs.
However last night the company responsible for the shipping said it was not yet sure if it would go ahead as planned.
It is understood the Pentolina B, owned by Pentland Ferries, based in Aberdeen, Scotland, will take a consignment of livestock from Ipswich to the continent.
Last night a spokeswoman for the company said they would not know until this morning if the export was going to take place.
"Unfortunately I can't confirm anything," she said. "At the moment we don't really know what will be happening it all depends on the situation. We should be clearer by tomorrow [today]."
Animal rights campaigners are planning a protest in opposition to the exports, which they believe port bosses should have rejected.
Local campaigner Judy Massie, from Colchester, said: "It's just totally unacceptable. Some of these animals will only be three or four days old and they get taken from their mothers, put into a crate and then sent down the motorway and into a boat. In this day and age it's just barbaric.
"Often ports say they can't refuse as its legitimate business but we know of two other ports that turned it down on the grounds that it would be a disruption to other trade - so it can be done."
Writer Carla Lane, a passionate animal rights campaigner, also spoke to officials at Ipswich port owners ABP yesterday to try to persuade them not to allow the trade.
In 2004 Ferryway UK announced it would no longer be exporting sheep to Europe from Ipswich port because protests by a number of animal welfare campaigners made trading too difficult.
Between January and October 1995 thousands of campaigners tried to stop trucks from getting through at Brightlingsea in protest to live exports from the Essex town.
The demonstrations were often supervised by police in full riot gear and 598 people were arrested during the 10 month period, after which the exports were forced to stop.
Ian Birchall, chairman of Kent Action against Live Exports (KALE), said most of the animals being exported were male calves which had little value in Britain but were popular for the veal trade in Holland and Belgium.
Commenting on the planned protest he said: "We don't know what time the vessels will arrive but we will certainly try to have a presence there."
A spokesman for Ipswich Port Authority confirmed it would be handling shipments of livestock while the berth at Dover was closed, using the West Bank Terminal.
He added: "As the Statutory Harbour Authority for the Port of Ipswich, Associated British Ports (ABP) is legally bound to handle all legitimate traffic.
"The shipment of livestock is a legal trade in the United Kingdom, monitored and regulated by government agencies such as Defra."
A police spokeswoman said they would be monitoring the situation, and hoped any protest would be peaceful and would not interfere with the work of the port.
The Port of Ipswich is handling the trade for the next two weeks because the berth at Dover usually used for exports is currently closed for repairs.
However last night the company responsible for the shipping said it was not yet sure if it would go ahead as planned.
It is understood the Pentolina B, owned by Pentland Ferries, based in Aberdeen, Scotland, will take a consignment of livestock from Ipswich to the continent.
Last night a spokeswoman for the company said they would not know until this morning if the export was going to take place.
"Unfortunately I can't confirm anything," she said. "At the moment we don't really know what will be happening it all depends on the situation. We should be clearer by tomorrow [today]."
Animal rights campaigners are planning a protest in opposition to the exports, which they believe port bosses should have rejected.
Local campaigner Judy Massie, from Colchester, said: "It's just totally unacceptable. Some of these animals will only be three or four days old and they get taken from their mothers, put into a crate and then sent down the motorway and into a boat. In this day and age it's just barbaric.
"Often ports say they can't refuse as its legitimate business but we know of two other ports that turned it down on the grounds that it would be a disruption to other trade - so it can be done."
Writer Carla Lane, a passionate animal rights campaigner, also spoke to officials at Ipswich port owners ABP yesterday to try to persuade them not to allow the trade.
In 2004 Ferryway UK announced it would no longer be exporting sheep to Europe from Ipswich port because protests by a number of animal welfare campaigners made trading too difficult.
Between January and October 1995 thousands of campaigners tried to stop trucks from getting through at Brightlingsea in protest to live exports from the Essex town.
The demonstrations were often supervised by police in full riot gear and 598 people were arrested during the 10 month period, after which the exports were forced to stop.
Ian Birchall, chairman of Kent Action against Live Exports (KALE), said most of the animals being exported were male calves which had little value in Britain but were popular for the veal trade in Holland and Belgium.
Commenting on the planned protest he said: "We don't know what time the vessels will arrive but we will certainly try to have a presence there."
A spokesman for Ipswich Port Authority confirmed it would be handling shipments of livestock while the berth at Dover was closed, using the West Bank Terminal.
He added: "As the Statutory Harbour Authority for the Port of Ipswich, Associated British Ports (ABP) is legally bound to handle all legitimate traffic.
"The shipment of livestock is a legal trade in the United Kingdom, monitored and regulated by government agencies such as Defra."
A police spokeswoman said they would be monitoring the situation, and hoped any protest would be peaceful and would not interfere with the work of the port.
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