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17. November 2025

The horror vessel returns – Spiridon II on a death course to Uruguay

The Spiridon II is on its way back to Uruguay, with the surviving animals still on board. Very few are likely to survive the crossing.

The animals' suffering continues: after being stuck off the Turkish coast for weeks and not receiving permission to unload, the "Spiridon II" has now set course for Uruguay again. For the nearly 3,000 cattle on board – half of which are pregnant – this means another month crammed onto the ship. Food and water are scarce. Most, if not all, of the…

10. November 2025

Thousands of Cattle Trapped at Sea – Livestock Ship Spiridon II Stuck off the Turkish Coast

The Spiridon on November 9 at the dock in the port of Bandırma.

For over two weeks, the vessel “Spiridon II” with 2,901 cattle from Uruguay on board has been stuck off the Turkish coast. The authorities are refusing to allow the animals to be unloaded because there are discrepancies in their ear tags. The cattle have now been on the ship for a total of more than 50 days. According to a letter from the ship's…

28. October 2025

Operation on the Turkish border – progress thanks to our work

During our investigation, we inspected a transporter belonging to a Romanian company.

Our team traveled to the Turkish-Bulgarian border to check whether there are still problems with animal transports there. Fortunately, the number of transports to Turkey has now dropped significantly, thanks to our work. However, our observations also show that despite small steps forward, the suffering of animals remains a reality—and real…

21. October 2025

Documentation of calf transports – suffering after short journeys

The calves are transported from Germany to Belgium for fattening.

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 young calves. Most of the animals are taken to fattening farms in the Netherlands.

21. October 2025

Sharing expertise: Seminar on animal transport for police and authorities in Hesse

[Translate to English:] Iris Baumgärtner erklärt den Fachkräften, worauf sie bei der Kontrolle von Tiertransporten achten müssen.

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.

08. September 2025

Lecture on animal transport to third countries at the German Judicial Academy

At the invitation of the Hessian Ministry of Justice, we participated in a conference held by the German Judicial Academy last week. Together with our partner organisation Animals' Angels, we gave a presentation on third-country exports and the lack of emergency measures in cases of import refusals. This led to a constructive dialogue with the…

25. August 2025

Animal transport in extreme heat in eastern France

[Translate to English:] Ein LKW mit lebenden Tieren an Bord ist bei Extremhitze durch Frankreich gefahren.

During the heatwave with temperatures reaching 40 °C, we monitored animal transport in eastern France in collaboration with the French animal welfare organisation Welfarm. Despite the extreme temperatures, pigs and cattle were transported hundreds of kilometres across Europe. This is a clear violation of the EU Transport Regulation and a serious…

10. July 2025

Animal Cruelty in Court – Success in Poland

In Poland, we won a legal battle that lasted more than five years. It concerned a calf transport on its way from Lithuania to Israel, which we stopped in Poland in 2019 – and in which we found catastrophic conditions. The unweaned calves had hardly any space, were hungry and thirsty, and some had already died. The first-instance ruling was…

14. June 2025

#BanLiveExports Day - Animals Don't Belong on Vessels

In May, we returned to the port of Cartagena to document animal transports on site. During our investigation, we saw countless trucks arriving at the port, loaded with thousands of frightened lambs that had already endured an agonising journey in overcrowded transporters, without sufficient space, water or rest breaks. In the scorching heat, many…