Former Green
Party Councillor, Ian Driver, has expressed “incredulity” at the scale of a £2.3
million compensation payment made by Thanet District Council to companies exporting sheep for ritual
slaughter in Europe via the municipally owned Port of Ramsgate (1). He said the
compensation, plus a further £272,000 legal costs to the exporters(2), amounted to the payment of “blood money to convicted animal welfare abusers. The compensation payment was ordered by the High Court in February 2013, after Thanet Council suspended sheep exports from Ramsgate.
The suspension followed injuries caused to many of the
sheep during transport to the port on 12 September 2012. As a result 47 animals
were destroyed on the quayside (3 ). The High Court ruled that, by imposing the suspension, Thanet Council had
acted in breach of section 35 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European
Union (TFEU) which states that “Quantitative
restrictions on exports, and all measures having equivalent effect, shall be
prohibited between Member States” (4 ).
After protracted negotiations a confidential
compensation agreement was reached between the council and the exporters. The
scale of the compensation payment was
only made public last week after Driver used powers under the Audit Act 1998 to
question the council about its spending during the 2014-15 financial year(5).
The company responsible for the
transportation of the sheep to Ramsgate on the 12 September 2012 was Channel
Livestock Limited. Its director is Thomas Lomas. At a hearing at Dover
Magistrates Court on 13 February 2014, Lomas was handed down a six month
suspended gaol sentence and ordered to pay £5,000 costs and his company was
fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £10,000
costs for breaches of animal welfare regulations(6).
 |
| Sheep destroyed at Ramsgate Port |
The owner of the Latvian
registered ferry, Joline, which is used to transport the sheep from Ramsgate to Calais, Johannes Onderwater,
a Dutch national, also has a record of
animal related criminality. He and his company, Onderwater Agneaux
BV, were convicted at Canterbury Crown
Court on 10 August 2010 for smuggling live animals via public ferry services from Dover to Europe by deliberately
mis-describing the contents of his lorries as seafood, frozen or boxed meat.
The court handed down a fine of £6,000 and costs of £3,675 for these offences (7
).
Said Driver, “I’m
staggered that companies with convictions and fines for animal related
criminality are able to claim £millions in compensation from a public authority
which acted in good faith to protect the welfare of the animals passing through
its port. I believe that the UK Government, UK Euro MPs, & Commissioners along with the RSPCA and
Compassion in World Farming should be
lobbying hard to amend section 35 of the TFEU to allow member state opt outs from
the article on the basis of animal welfare or other ethical considerations. The article as it currently
stands is a charter for industrial scale cruelty towards sentient beings which in
the name of humanity and compassion must be ended.
Ends.
1. Seehttp://thanet.gov.uk/the-thanet-magazine/news-articles/2015/august-2015/compensation-provision-in-statement-of-accounts/
2. Email from Ian Driver to Thanet Council Finance Officer 7 August 2015 - please tell me … Any legal and associated costs related to item 1 above, including any payment towards the legal and related costs of the company (or companies) who conduct the export of live animals from the port of Ramsgate arising from the Council’s temporary suspension of that trade.
Response On point 2, £12,025 were TDC costs and the balance of £280,000 were the related costs. Regards Matt. Matthew Sanham, Corporate Finance Manager, Thanet District Council
4. See
and
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:12012E/TXT&from=en
5. See
http://thanet.gov.uk/the-thanet-magazine/news-articles/2015/august-2015/compensation-provision-in-statement-of-accounts/
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