ANIMAL rights campaigners are preparing for a major showdown with a freight company profiting from live animal exports.

Shipping company Dart Line Ltd, has come under fierce criticism from campaigners after a trial shipment of live sheep left Dartford Port last week bound for a European slaughterhouse.

More than 400 sheep were placed into lorries bound for Germany, animal activists say.

But Captain Ron Herman, managing director of the freight firm Dart Line, says he is stunned by the controversy surrounding the firm's decision.

He said: "We have walked into this innocently. We are a responsible shipping company." He stressed that the company was not acting illegally.

Kerry Burgess, campaigns director for Compassion in World Farming Limited, said the company's decision had generated a massive public outcry. She said: "Since the news was revealed we have been inundated with calls from supporters."

Miss Burgess added they hoped for a meeting with the managing director of the company sometime in the near future. She said: "The company have both a moral and ethical responsibility."

Captain Herman added: "We have been asked to do the exports on a small scale and we have permission from Chamber of Shipping and the Veterinary Service."

But CIWF plans to mount peaceful protests at the port if the company refuse to listen and stop the live exports.

CIWF has more than 30,000 members and last year successfully put an end to animal exports in Berwick-on-Tweed. Animal welfare supporters already hold monthly protests in Dover.