Joanna Lumley launches Compassions 2012 campaign against live animal exports
Joanna Lumley launched Compassion in World Farming’s 2012 push against long distance live animal transport in Trafalgar Square today by unveiling the charity’s national bus advertising campaign on a Routemaster bus.
According to figures obtained by Compassion in World Farming, 2011 saw a resurgence in sheep and calf exports from Britain to the continent. The 2011 figure is more than three times higher than 2010. Compassion estimates the total number of farm animals exported live in 2011 at more than 80,000.*
Joanna said: “The numbers involved in live exports is shocking. We need to act on this ghastly trade now. 2012 is an auspicious year. This is the year for change!
“We ask farmers to please find alternatives and we need to make it more lucrative for them to slaughter their animals closer to home. Ask your MEP to enforce an 8 hour limit and stop and think about your food and where it comes from. I urge you all to take more responsibility. “
Millions of farm animals are transported across the world every year on journeys that in some cases can last for weeks. Animals can suffer terribly from the strain and stress of live transport. Investigations by animal welfare groups across Europe have found cramped, overcrowded conditions, no access to water and even occasions when animals are so hungry they are forced to eat their own filthy bedding. Some collapse onto the floor of the truck where they risk being trampled by their companions. Others are seen ill or injured and in the worst cases dying.
The adverts, a result of winning the CBS Outdoor Big Bus Challenge an advertising competition with a 200,000 bus campaign as the prize are being used to highlight the resurgence in live exports from this country, and the situation across the world.
According to Freedom of Information responses from Defra, the only port used for exports to the continent as from May last year was Ramsgate in Kent and Compassion is calling on the authorities there to raise the price they charge.
Joyce D’Silva, Compassion’s Director of Public Affairs called on British farmers to abandon the export trade, saying “Good farmers want to know the fate of their animals when they leave the farm. Compassion calls on the farmers who still export their animals to find a market for them in the UK and spare them the horrors of the live export trade. We also urge the government to fight hard at the negotiating table in Brussels to set much shorter maximum journey times for animals in transit, preferably no more than 8 hours.”
Elvis Communications designed the award-winning bus adverts.
David McCullough, Head Of Copy at Elvis Communications said, “As a lifelong vegetarian and someone who is strongly opposed to animal cruelty in all its forms, I’ve wanted to work with Compassion In World Farming for a long time. Especially since hearing them speaking out against the live export of sheep and calves from Ramsgate.
“So the Big Bus Challenge presented myself and creative partner Seth Jones with the perfect medium to bring to life Compassion In World Farming’s campaign against a cruel practice. I’m so proud to not only have won but also being able to help get this important message out and about.”
Simon Harrington, Marketing Director at CBS Outdoor UK said: “This is a fantastic example of how to use Bus advertising in a creative and impactful way. The prize will enable Compassion in World Farming to be big, be bold, be seen and communicate this important message to the UK’s urban audience.”
*According to Freedom of Information data and calculations, Compassion estimates the total number of sheep and calves to have been exported from Britain to the continent in 2011 to be 79,996. With the few pigs and goats shipped last year, the total number of farm animals in 2011 is an estimated 80,664.
Figures from the European Union’s EUROSTAT website show the number of sheep and calves transported from Britain to the continent in 2010 to be 25,417.