Actress Joanna Lumley

Actress Joanna Lumley launched an “exciting” new advertising campaign to end long-distance animal transportation today as animal welfare campaigners revealed an increase in the number of live animals being exported.

Lumley launched the charity’s national bus advertising campaign on a Routemaster bus in London’s Trafalgar Square as it said that an estimated total of more than 80,000 live farm animals were exported in 2011.

In 2011 there were three times more live calves and sheep being exported from Britain to the continent than in 2010, according to Compassion in World Farming.

Using Freedom of Information data, the charity estimates the total number of sheep and calves to have been exported from Britain to the continent in 2011 to be 79,996. With some pigs and goats shipped last year, the total number of farm animals in 2011 is an estimated 80,664.

Figures from the European Union’s Eurostat website show the number of sheep and calves transported from Britain to the continent in 2010 to be much lower at 25,417.

“It’s an exciting campaign,” said Lumley. “This was so important for us because it means people will see that animals are being transported against their wishes.

“They can’t get off, unlike human beings who can just ring the bell and jump off the bus once they’ve reached their short destination.”

The charity hopes the adverts will highlight the resurgence in live exports from this country and the situation across the rest of the world, where journeys can sometimes last for several weeks.

Investigations by animal welfare groups found some animals collapse to the floor of transport vehicles, where they risk being trampled by their companions, while many become ill or injured and do not survive the journey to their destination.

Lumley added: “The numbers involved in live exports is shocking. While we are part of the EU, we are a country in our own right and we need to act on this now.

“2012 is the year to make a change. We need to raise the price at the ports, so that it is more profitable for farmers to have their animals slaughtered close to their own farms.”