Investigation in the Czech Republic - overloaded truck with unweaned calves discovered

After uncovering the transport routes of calves from the Czech Republic and Slovakia to Spain in 2021-2022 and filing complaints against the operators of French supply stations for inadequate care of the animals, we took action again.

The investigation took place in the Czech Republic. This time, we followed a Spanish transporter from a Czech assembly centre that had loaded too many calves. The ceiling height was too low for many of the animals and it was impossible to provide them with water in this vehicle. This is torture for animals that are trapped in the truck for hours: they can hardly move and suffer from thirst. 

The route led via Austria. In the province of Upper Austria, we asked the police for help. Unfortunately, the two police officers that joined us were not trained and not willing to call in an animal welfare inspector due to the late hour at night. The transporter was allowed to drive on! Despite this disappointment, we did not give up and continued to follow the transporter. 

In the morning it arrived at a collection centre in Italy. The unweaned calves were unloaded in the barn for just a few hours and then, equipped with new accompanying documents, transported on to Spain. This practice is known as ‘collection hopping’. It aims to diguise the actual place of dispatch of the animals and allows them to be transported for longer than permitted. We are commited to uncover and stop this scheme! 

Our findings show once again that the current EU animal transport law is not being enforced and that reforms are urgently needed. Our teams have been working on behalf of young animals since 2014, inspecting countless transports of unweaned calves and lambs with the help of the police and veterinary authorities and subsequently filing charges for various offences. What they all have in common is the lack of care for the animals during transport. We regularly present the results of our investigations to decision-makers in ministries, European authorities and politicians and call on them to take action.

We reject long journeys (> 8 hours) of unweaned calves and lambs. They are unlawful in their implementation and represent an unacceptable stress test for young animals just a few weeks old. Together with the EU umbrella organisation of animal welfare organisations, the Eurogroup for Animals, we are campaigning at a political level to finally put an end to such torturous transports.