Minister asked to publish full mortality rates after death of cattle on board ferry

FOLLOWING the death of five cattle aboard the Irish Ferries ship St Killian, the group Compassion in World Farming has demanded…

FOLLOWING the death of five cattle aboard the Irish Ferries ship St Killian, the group Compassion in World Farming has demanded that the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, publish full mortality statistics for cattle shipments to Europe.

The organisation has also sought an urgent meeting with the Minister to discover what went wrong on board the vessel on September 29th-30th, when the cattle smothered to death on a car deck.

Irish Ferries said the death of the animals was being investigated by the relevant authority, the Department of Agriculture, and would not comment further on the incident.

In a statement yesterday, Ms Mary Ann Bartlett, the Irish organiser of CIWF, said the deaths once again highlighted the need to ban the live trade and replace it with a trade in meat.

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"What happened on the ship once again raises the question of how effective the rules put into place by the EU and the Government covering the transport of animals really are," she said.

"It once again proves that no matter what we do here we cannot ensure that animals will be treated properly after they leave the jurisdiction

Ms Bartlett was also highly critical of the Minister for Agriculture and said he had consistently refused to meet CIWF to discuss the issue face to face.

He promised that he would publish a report on the transport of animals by ferry in January 1995 and that still has not been published. We want this report published and a total review of the carrying of animals by ferries," she said.

"What has happened will make us more determined to press ahead with opposition to the live trade," she said.

A Department spokesman said it was investigating what it called the "unfortunate loss of the five animals" to see if the correct procedures had been observed and to ascertain if action was necessary to prevent any further such incident.