Cruelty to animals: Reporter accompanies cruel animal transports for days (video)

Watch the video: “Torn each other’s fur out” – reporter reports on cruel animal transports on Europe’s borders.

Well, I just found the crass thing that the whole market is designed for these animals to be transported. They are traded just like any other commodity. They probably haven’t eaten for a long time. You can also see that a bit, that the flanks have sunk in drastically. They probably tore each other’s fur out from stress and hunger. We were basically chased away once. A driver attacked us.
GEO editor Marlene Göring accompanied animal transports for a week. Together with animal rights activists from the organization Animals Angels, she observed animal transports on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey, watched them and checked for violations. Marlene, how was the week for you? What did you experience there?
It was pretty exciting, firstly because it was an unfamiliar situation for me. We more or less lived in the car, only stayed in the hotel for two nights. Otherwise really the whole time in the car. And then we always waited for the transports on the Turkish side, because there was another parking lot there. It was actually such a dusty place where the animals were often unloaded because the trucks were basically always searched. And then we looked at how the animals were doing. And when we found violations, we always went there in the morning, looked at which trucks were arriving and then picked out where we found violations and then followed them.
How exactly does the transport of the animals from Europe to Turkey look like?
That’s totally different. On our route, most of the animals came from the Czech Republic or Hungary. The farthest we had was actually Estonia. Which is really awesome. What usually needs to be done. So after 24 hours, with cows it’s 27 hours on the truck. After that, they have to take a 24-hour break, and then the duration counts all over again, so to speak. And we followed, for example, an animal transport of young fattening bulls from the Czech Republic. We were able to follow him to the end. That’s why we know where it ended up and were allowed to look at the papers and stuff. From the Czech Republic to the destination at the head office. Okay, did it take you 83 hours?
How did the truck drivers deal with you stopping and checking them?
Some drivers then were very sociable and also showed us the animals and told us where they come from. But others were also aggressive and then wanted to chase us, so to speak. You then withdraw because you don’t have to risk anything now. You don’t have to convert the drivers and convince them of anything, it’s really about the animals, to see how they’re doing. And you actually take it back. And us, we were basically chased away once. A driver attacked us, honking his horn, drove out to this place where we adjusted them. He already knew that we were there and then came at us, waving wildly, so to speak. Drove us like this.
You filmed a few scenes. How did you perceive the situation of the sheep in the transporter?
We haven’t seen any really, really gruesome pictures. Which there are and which also happen. But what was so crass, this everyday suffering. Because even if the requirements are somehow met, that is, the animals are not necessarily overloaded, the trucks are not necessarily overloaded, it is still not the case that they can all lie down, for example. And these sheep, you saw that. They were probably so-called end-of-career animals, i.e. animals that actually only go to the slaughterhouse or that the system simply used up. They’re worth so little that less attention is paid to the circumstances. And they were simply not particularly fit from the start. They probably haven’t eaten for a long time. You can see that a bit, that the flanks have sunk in quite blatantly, they probably tore each other’s skin out from stress and hunger. I agree. So these and these are not even these bad pictures. But what it really showed, or what I learned there, is that even if everything is more or less okay, or if it’s just seemingly minor violations, like the animals aren’t fed, there’s no water, there’s no bedding is not enough. That that on such long transports is simply improbable. A lot of suffering means, even if we always expect the most blatant pictures with injuries or dead animals.
How were the penned-in fattening bulls in the transporters?
So the violations that we saw were actually always the same. So that breaks were not observed, that the drinking troughs were not either empty or so that the animals could not reach them at all. For example, if so, then with trucks, which are actually more and more multi-storey. And if so, then they have a page, so to speak, that you can move around like this. And if it’s stupidly misplaced, then maybe it’s this little nipple where the drinking trough is blocked by a metal strut or something. So there are things, then food, no food for a long time, insufficient bedding and sometimes so full that not everyone can lie down.
What is the biggest problem with the animal transports that take place every day?
Well, I just found the crass thing that the whole market is designed for these animals to be transported. They are traded just like any other commodity and like us. As we know, the markets today are more and more centralized, more and more specialized. And that, in principle, it is almost impossible for the farmer to know where his animal is actually shipped back and forth and that these routes are linked to the market system. And that would be avoidable if you actually rely on regional production or if you rely on regional production. It’s actually almost pointless suffering, which could also be avoided with restructuring. those breaks. I think that in the EU they will definitely be respected. In most cases, when this break 24 hours break after a period of time. But what we found then, as soon as the EU border is left, nobody cares about it anymore. And that’s what Animals Angeles found out on the route to Uzbekistan. That there are, for example, these rest areas that actually have to exist, which are also approved by the authorities, by the veterinary authorities. That it doesn’t even exist.
What needs to change in meat production and animal transport to minimize animal suffering?
Ideally, the animals arrive at a rest area, where there are stalls where they can be let down, covered or open. And they just have to be able to get water and food. And that’s one of those things, for example. Even if these rest areas exist, it is often the case that there is no food there at all, for example. That one simply relies more on regional production in principle. That there are also mobile slaughterhouses. So sometimes there are simply no slaughterhouses in the vicinity or no fattening farms. So that you simply rely more on regional production again. And that’s a long, long-term restructuring. But that’s doable. And of course you have to ask yourself whether meat consumption is actually still appropriate.

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