Charity condemns live sheep exports after Yorkshire exposé

The sheep and lambs were taken more than 600 miles to dimly-lit sheds in France during the height of the summer, the investigation by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) has revealed.

The charity found sheep contained in trucks for up to 18 hours while being driven from the Sheffield area to the Deux-Sevres region of France.

Chief executive Philip Lymbery said: “On top of the gruelling journeys these animals are often subjected to, this latest discovery will shock many who see British sheep as belonging in our fields and on our hillsides.

“These sheep, which should be raised on our summer pastures, end up in dark sheds for up to a month after highly stressful journeys. This is indicative of the sheer lack of common sense inherent in the live export trade.”

Dutch hauliers took the consignment of 500 sheep almost 650 miles (1,046km) in July when temperatures hit the high 20Cs, a CIWF spokesman said. Animals were packed together so tightly that they could not all lie down at the same time, according to the charity.

CIWF is calling on the Government to change the law to allow ports to refuse the trade in live animals if they wish.

Charles Sercombe, National Farmers’ Union livestock board chairman, said that if all the requirements for transporting the sheep had been complied with nothing illegal had taken place.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “We inspect all livestock being exported at the start of the journey and again at the port to ensure our strict animal welfare standards are upheld.”