Celebrations as live calves head abroad
12 May 2006 by Tomas. M.
The UK is celebrating this week after the controversial ban on the export of live calves was finally lifted.The relaxation of the export laws means the troublesome creatures need only clutter up UK farms for a matter of weeks before they're boxed up and shipped off live to the continent.
A spokesman for the National Farmers Union (NFU) said that the lifting of the ban relieves over-stretched UK farmers of an unnecessary burden and allows them to concentrate on more important aspects of modern farming. "The net result of the removal of the export restrictions means that our farmers will have more time to claim subsidies and complain about everything," he said. "The French model is the ideal, we just want to be on a level playing field."
The fast-track despatch of the young animals isn't only of direct benefit to the farmer, as the spokesman explained. "The mother cow is also inconvenienced much less and can get on with the job in hand of producing milk and more calves, which is what they love doing."
As for the calves themselves, they can look forward to experiencing life beyond the farm and get the opportunity to travel - often thousands of miles - to sweltering climates. "Because they're so young they don't suffer any kind of 'culture shock' like an older animal might – on the contrary, they lap it up! The Europeans also have a very colourful culture and their own unique ways of dealing with livestock, which these young animals will get to experience at first hand."
Britain hopes to export hundreds of thousands of calves to the continent this year as continental Europeans exploit their selfless desire for UK meat on the hoof and not on the hook.
