From
The Universe dated January 15 1995:
Report by Chris Godwin
A Catholic animal rights activist has called for an end to live
animal exports.
May Bocking, of the Catholic Study Circle for Animal Welfare, said
she has been fighting against the export of livestock for the past 20
years.
"The animals are packed very tightly, they don't get food and they
are badly treated when they get to their destination," she said.
She backed the recent animal rights activists' protests over the
shipment of livestock from Shoreham, West Sussex. But she condemns the
violence.
Catholics in the farming world were equally damning of the violence.
Hugh Williams, a part-time hill farmer in Devon, said: "The last
thing these animal rights activists seem to have is love for the
animals."
Albert Beer, secretary of the Devon Cattle Breeders' Society, said
the arguments surrounding the export of calves were not clear cut.
"We export calves to Holland, Belgium and France that go into a
system which is banned in this country.
"If we banned live export, these countries would still produce veal
but they would get their calves from Poland where the standards of
transport are worse than if they were imported from England," he said.
Editorial Comment: 'Respect for all creation'
The export of live calves raises a host of ethical questions.
Violent protest is not the answer. But neither is legislation.
For anyone who feels that God's creatures are being brutally misused
by mankind, there is a simple answer. Don't eat veal, or any meat,
produced in barbaric conditions.
Reproduced with thanks.
