For the second time in just four weeks, our team has documented calf transports at a collection point in Germany, near the Dutch border. Every week, two to three livestock trucks depart from there, loaded with up to 700 unweaned calves. Most of the animals are taken to fattening farms in the Netherlands.

Some of the transports continue on to…

For the second time this year, we were guests at the ‘Animal Transport’ seminar held by the Hessian University of Applied Sciences for Public Management and Security (HÖMS). Our project manager Iris Baumgärtner provided insights into the legal basis and challenges involved in transporting farmed animals.

The full-day seminar was aimed at around 25…

How can animal welfare in Germany and across Europe be strengthened? What is the position of the new Federal Animal Welfare Commissioner on the export of live animals to third countries? On Wednesday, 15 October, our project manager Franziska Burkhardt travelled to Berlin at the invitation of Federal Animal Welfare Commissioner Silvia Breher to…

The case of the 69 pregnant cattle that were stranded for weeks at the Turkish border in Kapikule in the fall of 2024 and died in agony now has political consequences in Germany. On September 26, 2025, the Federal Council approved a motion by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, on the recommendation of the Agricultural Committee, which provides…

The scandal surrounding detained transport ships carrying animals in Morocco continues to escalate. In addition to the 4,500 cattle originally from Brazil, a Spanish ship has now been affected too. We are taking immediate action and calling on the European Commission, as well as the Moroccan and Spanish authorities, to unload the animals into…

At the invitation of the Hessian Ministry of Justice, we participated in a conference held by the German Judicial Academy in Trier last week. The Judicial Academy provides further training for judges and public prosecutors. The topic of the conference was ‘Animal welfare law – selected fundamentals and current developments’. 

Together with our…

From 11 to 13 August, we documented animal transports in eastern France together with our French colleagues from Welfarm. In doing so, we identified massive violations of animal welfare law. During this period, temperatures reached up to 40 degrees Celsius. Even these extreme temperatures did not deter some transporters from driving animals across…

The EU has not imported horse meat from Canada for over a year. This is shown by import statistics. It is a great success, and one in which we have played a significant role through our work.

When we started our project 13 years ago, Canada was still the largest supplier of horse meat in Europe. In collaboration with a partner organisation from…