Sir, – Eddie Molloy (Letters, July 13th) writes of the pollution of rivers and lakes as being the other “dirty secret” of the dairy industry. The destruction of irreplaceable ecosystems to which he refers has seen global wild animal populations drop by 70 per cent since 1970.
In Ireland, the number of adult salmon returning to the coast has collapsed from two million in the late 1970s to some 250,000 in recent years. Of course, water contamination is not the sole environmental impact – agriculture remains the single biggest source of national emissions at 38.4 per cent.
He closes by saying he looks forward to Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue declaring water pollution as a result of dairy farming “utterly unacceptable”. Given that the Minister led a trade delegation to China in May as part of efforts to boost Irish beef exports, he may be waiting some time. – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN KEEGAN,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – If people think that the abuse of calves was bad, what would the RTÉ cameras uncover if pointed at live cattle exports from Ireland to non-EU countries? Irish cattle on a one-way ticket set sail for such countries as Algeria, Turkey, Libya, Israel, and Egypt.
The sea journeys involved are too long to guarantee a satisfactory level of animal welfare. Conditions for animals in destination countries are often far below the minimum legal standards required in Ireland.
The live farm animal export trade, in which profit is being placed above animal welfare and respect for norms, should be consigned to trade history. Live-animal exports represent an outdated attitude to animal welfare, and a refusal by the farming community to embrace modern thinking both in terms of animal welfare and economic reality. – Yours, etc,
JOHN TIERNEY,
Chair,
Waterford Animal Concern,
Waterford.