Calls for alpacas and llamas to be included in export-for-slaughter ban

A ban on exporting livestock for slaughter and fattening should be extended to protect alpacas, llamas, and deer, Labour has said.

Plans to ban such exports from Great Britain for cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and horses are due to be considered by the House of Commons on Monday.

The Government says the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill will stop animals from enduring unnecessary stress, exhaustion and injury on long journeys, and is only possible now the UK has left the European Union.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the legislation covers all live exports where major animal welfare concerns have been identified and that it has seen no evidence of demand for the export of animals for slaughter which are not already covered by the Bill.

There has been no live export of livestock for slaughter since Brexit, experts have said, pointing to practical barriers including EU checks and a lack of suitable border posts, as well as resistance on the part of ferry companies to facilitate the trade.

But animal welfare charities have nonetheless welcomed the Government’s ban, which they say will safeguard against the potential for the trade to restart in the future.