Live Export bus shelter campaign

I'm sure many of you will have seen RTE Investigates Live Exports: On the Hoof. It was a follow up documentary on last year's Dairys Dirty Secrets that exposed the cruelty behind the live export of unweaned calves.

This year Fran McNulty went further than veal farms in the Netherlands and traced calves to Romania and Poland. Not only is that a horrendously long journey for young and vulnerable animals, it's not the end of the line for them. They are fattened and shipped off to countries like Israel and Libya.

The programme also showed that thousands of male dairy calves that escape export to veal farms are getting shipped from Ireland to Israel and Morocco when older - a fate worse than veal.

Years of investigations have shown that these animals suffer from a number of illnesses and injuries during the sea journey including respiratory illness, diarrhea, ringworm, leg injuries, and even blindness (caused by high levels of ammonia.)

If that isn't enough, the destination countries have poor animal welfare legislation in place and practice brutal slaughter methods.

Earlier in the year we ran a billboard campaign - Irish Dairy Bulls: A Fate Worse Than Veal.

We now want to run the same poster but on bus shelters. That little fella with the scabby knees really tugged at my heart strings. He looked so small and vulnerable struggling to retain his balance in the truck. He was covered in ringworm and manure, and had a snotty nose. He'd clearly fallen on his knees heavily, or frequently.He won't be alive anymore, his misery will have come to an end. But I'll never forget him.