Animal transport in extreme heat in eastern France
[Translate to English:] Ein LKW mit lebenden Tieren an Bord ist bei Extremhitze durch Frankreich gefahren.
[Translate to English:] Unsere Projektleiterin Iris Baumgärtner (links) zusammen mit Stéphane Boissavy von Welfarme.
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 Europe – even though EU regulations prohibit long-distance animal transport above 30 degrees.
On the first day of our mission, we did not find any trucks transporting animals during the day – fortunately. But in the evening, the picture changed.
On the first night, we inspected a truck carrying pigs from Belgium that was on its way to southern Italy. Shortly afterwards, we followed a transporter carrying cattle from Ireland that was also destined for a farm in Italy. On the second night, we also discovered a Dutch truck transporting pigs to Italy.
Particularly alarming: sharp rise in temperature when stationary
Even at night, the outside temperature was above 26 °C. During a short stop, we measured the temperature inside the vehicle. We were concerned to find that the temperature in the pig transporter rose dramatically after just a few minutes of standing still.
This is an enormous strain on the animals – despite the supposedly cooler night-time hours.
A clear violation of EU-law
All trucks crossed France during the day at temperatures of up to 40 °C. Transporting animals during a heatwave is irresponsible and not permitted under EU transport regulations. The animals are transported over long distances under extreme conditions – often without adequate care or cooling.
Although transport at such extreme temperatures clearly violates the applicable animal welfare regulations, we decided not to involve the police in this case. We know that every stop would have caused the temperature in the truck to rise further. This would have made the situation even more dangerous for the animals inside the vehicles and could have been fatal.
However, we meticulously documented the transports and will follow up on these cases and file complaints with the relevant authorities so that the responsible companies and authorities are held accountable. With our efforts, we continue to fight to ensure that such cruel transports are finally banned.
