EU Urged to Limit Livestock Transportation

A petition reportedly signed by more than one million citizens has urged
the European Union (EU) to impose stricter rules on the transportation of
livestock intended for slaughter. Initiated by World Horse Welfare, the petition
challenged current EU regulations allowing transportation times to exceed
24 hours and instead requested an eight-hour maximum on all such journeys.
With more than one million signatures needed to trigger a legislative review
under the Lisbon Treaty, the long-running campaign evidently gained traction
after a November 2011 European Commission (EC) report highlighted alleged
failings in the enforcement of livestock welfare regulations.

Meanwhile, Danish Socialist Member of Parliament (MEP) Dan Jørgensen
has already collected pledges from 119 MEPs in an effort to acquire 378
signatures by March 15, 2012, at which point the European Parliament says it
will officially back the measure. “I definitely expect the commission to act on
this,” said Jørgensen. “The commission always talks about how the EU should
mean something for ordinary citizens. This is a very good example. It’s clearly
something the EU should do, it’s a common problem, as animals are transported
across borders.” See BBC News, January 10, 2012; The Parliament.com,
January 11, 2012.