ANIMAL lover Sally May is prepared to go a long way to help save battery chickens and caged pigs - all the way to Mexico in fact.

Sally, from Lymington, flew out to Central America at the weekend to join an international band of protesters at the World Trade Organisation summit.

As founder of the Solent Farm Animal Welfare group, Sally, 52, is a seasoned campaigner for animal rights - fundraising in a pink furry pig suit, taking part in passive demonstrations against live animal exports and distributing hundreds of postcards lobbying against intensive farming.

Her activities to bring animal cruelty into the public eye won her the coveted place on the plane to the city of Cancun as a representative of the charity Compassion in World Farming (CIWF).

Before the seven-day trip, Sally was both nervous and excited

"I have never been on a long haul flight and I am quite anxious about it," said Sally from her home in Ramley Road.

"I am taking malaria pills. I plan to wear long socks to ward off mosquitoes, and I am worried about how to cope with temperatures in the 90s," she said.

"On the other hand I am half hoping we will be able to take a trip into the jungle. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"But however stressed I feel, I'm on a mission for animals and that's the main purpose."

Sally is one of a team of six, lobbying this week on behalf of CIWF while international delegates and ministers from all over the world debate food and farming issues - such as whether to curb the spread of factory farming in developing countries.

"We will not be allowed into the debating chamber but there will be plenty going on outside and lots of international journalists to talk to," said Sally.

"Under new WTO rules, the EU can ban a cruel farming system in its own territory but it can't ban the import of meat or eggs produced under the banned system outside the EU, so farmers who abide by reforms get undercut by cheap imports. Animal welfare is my passion and this is a fantastic opportunity."

More information on the Solent Farm Animal Welfare Group is available on 01590 673861.