In August 2026, Brittany Ferries directly communicated to activists that it will stop transporting Nonhuman Animals for live export from 1st September 2026 at the latest. Southampton Animal Action (SAA), a small, volunteer-led grassroots group from the south of England, persevered for over a year to reach this outcome.
On the 27th of February 2025, Brittany Ferries announced its controversial decision to resume transporting live farmed animals, including unweaned calves, on its Rosslare to Cherbourg route. This move came after a 30-year hiatus during which the company refrained from participating in the live export trade due to its inherent cruelty.
The announcement sparked widespread condemnation from animal protection organisations, scientists, and celebrities. Over 120 individuals and groups, including Dame Joanna Lumley, Chris Packham, and Pauline McLynn, signed an open letter urging Brittany Ferries to reverse this decision.
When Brittany Ferries resumed live exports, SAA started protesting regularly at Portsmouth Port, their closest Brittany Ferries location. They disrupted at the port and outside the company’s offices, created their own leaflets and messaging, engaged local media, built a social media campaign, organised creative actions, planned a trip to Roscoff, France, where head office is based, and kept finding new ways to put pressure on the company. They collaborated with Dorset Animal Action to also protest their Poole location. Sometimes there were only two or three activists, but they did not wait until they had enough people; they just kept showing up.
They also refused to weaken their demands. This was not about making live exports “more humane” or only stopping one category of Nonhuman Animals (such as unweaned calves). They wanted Brittany Ferries to stop participating in live exports altogether and deliberately took an abolitionist approach. Their campaign connected live exports with the wider system of animal agriculture and promoted veganism as a way of stopping harm to fellow animals.
They caused so much disturbance that Christophe Mathieu, the CEO of Brittany Ferries, agreed to a meeting with them in July 2026. One of SAA’s organisers, Cat Phipps, maintained regular contact with him via WhatsApp calls and messages before the decision was communicated directly to her on 3rd August.
