France-Spain | Animal Transports

At midday, the calves from Poland and Lithuania are re-loaded at the control post in France. Instead of the mandatory 24 hours, the calves have only been rested for 18 hours. Our team observes that a calf falls down on the loading ramp, remains on the ground and is pulled back into the stable at its tail. Instead of being treated by a veterinarian, this calf is dragged back onto the trailer after the other calves have been loaded. We see that also a second unfit calf is carried onto the truck. Both calves should never have been re-loaded. They are transported in full knowledge of the fact that they might die.
At 13:00, both Polish transporters leave and we follow. At the first stop after three hours, we manage to look into the trailer with the unfit calves. They are both weak and lying on the ground, one is breathing heavily. At another stop four hours later, we find that one of the calves is dead.
Shortly before 2:00 at night, the transporters arrive at the calf collecting station in Spain. A „downer“, i.e. a calf which is unable to stand, is left unattended next to the unloading ramp. We are going to file complaints to the competent authorities about the short resting period in France and the loading of calves that were not fit for transport.