Written question asked by Norman Baker (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 9 October 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 11 October 2007. It was answered by Jonathan Shaw (Labour) on Wednesday, 17 October 2007 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Animal Welfare: Shipping

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many ships departing from UK ports since 1 January 2007 carrying live animals have been subject to inspection for animal welfare purposes; and what percentage of sailings this constitutes.

Answer: Since January 2007, two specialist livestock vessels have operated out of Dover. These vessels have also had a limited number of sailings from Sheerness and Ipswich port. Animal Health carry out welfare inspections on a percentage of all the animal transport vehicles travelling on these vessels.Combined figures for the vessels show that, of 104 sailings, 97 included physical and documentary checks on a number of the vehicles onboard. This means that over 93 per cent. of the sailings had welfare checks carried out on their vehicles.

Secondary information