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#FerryNews - A North Channel ferry operator has said that it will stop carrying calves to Europe after animal welfare concerns were raised by a BBC Scotland investigation.

According to BBC News Scotland, P&O said it was ending the practice with immediate effect following the broadcast on Monday of "Disclosure: The Dark Side of Dairy".

The Scottish government said it was concerned at P&O's reaction.

NFU Scotland said it was a "disappointing" decision and described the documentary as "sensationalised".

About 5,000 calves were shipped to Europe last year from Scotland.

Campaigners claim the long journey is harmful but the industry said the alternative was shooting them at birth.

Male calves are surplus to requirements on dairy farms.

Disclosure: The Dark Side of Dairy was broadcast on BBC One Scotland on 10 September and is available on the BBC iplayer

The Disclosure team learned that calves were being exported via the port of Cairnryan in Dumfries and Galloway.

For much more on the story, click here including a link to the television investigation. 

Published in Ferry

William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland and internationally for many years, with his work appearing in leading sailing publications on both sides of the Atlantic. He has been a regular sailing columnist for four decades with national newspapers in Dublin, and has had several sailing books published in Ireland, the UK, and the US. An active sailor, he has owned a number of boats ranging from a Mirror dinghy to a Contessa 35 cruiser-racer, and has been directly involved in building and campaigning two offshore racers. His cruising experience ranges from Iceland to Spain as well as the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, and he has raced three times in both the Fastnet and Round Ireland Races, in addition to sailing on two round Ireland records. A member for ten years of the Council of the Irish Yachting Association (now the Irish Sailing Association), he has been writing for, and at times editing, Ireland's national sailing magazine since its earliest version more than forty years ago