UK welfare group increases pressure for access to port
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is campaigning for access to the Port of Dover to allow them to monitor live exports from the facility.
The exports resumed from Dover earlier this month, after previously going out from Ramsgate for more than a year. However, the RSPCA said it had so far not been granted permission to enter the port and was calling on the residents of Dover to back its call.
The RSPCA, which had previously monitored exports from Ramsgate and was involved in an incident in which more than 40 sheep had to be destroyed at the port, had requested permission to be present in the Port of Dover to “safeguard the welfare of animals”, but said it had received no response.
Gavin Grant, the charity’s chief executive, said: "We were extremely saddened to see that live exports have resumed from the Port of Dover – a move that could see an increase in the number of animals that will unnecessarily have to endure long journeys to the Continent.
“Like Ramsgate, Dover does not have facilities at or near the port to deal with emergencies and our inspectors have not been granted permission to the port to monitor the welfare of the animals.”
