Activism & Animals Active Updated Aug 5, 2026
The live animal transport fight
Ferry operators carrying live calves from Ireland to France face mounting pressure over hours-long confinement and onward truck journeys running up to 50 hours. Brittany Ferries banned the practice for 30 years, revived it in March 2025, and is now reversing course again under NGO pressure and public opinion running strongly against the trade. This storyline tracks whether the remaining operator, Irish Ferries, follows suit and whether the campaign extends to other EU live-export routes.
The story so far
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Aug 5, 2026 Latest
Brittany Ferries agreed to stop shipping live calves from Ireland to France by September, reversing a policy it had revived in March 2025 after an NGO coalition collected more than 100,000 signatures demanding it stop; an EU survey found 82% of citizens concerned about transporting very young, unweaned animals.
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