In November and December 2019, transports of unweaned calves to Spain are not approved in the German state of Baden-Würrtemberg due to transport restrictions. However, our team reveals that calves are still being transported to Spain via assembly centres. This practise is also referred to as "assembly centre hopping".

Calves from Southern Germany…

The Kreisbauernverband Kassel e.V. and the Regionalbauernverband Kurhessen e. V. invited us for a speech to an event about animal exports to EU third countries to Kassel. Farmers are unsure which information they can trust and what to believe. The veterinary services are not approving any transports to third countries, the exporters claim there are…

In March (12th-15th) and September (17th-20th) the first and second edition of an advanced level training course on animal welfare during transport took place in Rome (Italy) and Freising (Germany). The two four-day training courses were organised by "Better Training for Safer Food" (BTSF), an initiative by the European Commission. 

Attendants of…

The German Federal Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Julia Klöckner, asked the Bavarian State Minister for Enviromental and Consumer Protection Affairs, Thorsten Glauber, in a letter to stop long-distance transports of unweaned calves from Bavaria to Spain. 

Julia Klöckner strongly emphasises in her letter that there are no…

On Tuesday evening is still 37°C when a veterinarian is called to check on a transport of chickens on the autobahn A5 in Germany. She experienced a lot, but the sight of the 4,800 layers is extremely depressing. The animals have already been transported in hot weather for one day without food or water by a dutch transport company. The hens are from…

The urgent need for action concerning the export of bovines to non-EU countries is discussed at an information event by the German party "Alliance 90/The Greens" under the leadership of Bernd Voß (Member of the Landtag Schleswig-Holstein). We report on the situation of certain non-EU export routes and inform about inspection reports published by…

The Ministry for Environment of the federal country of Hessen stopped with a decision animal exports to 14 third countries. The reason is concrete evidence of risks for the animals´ welfare during transport and slaughter. During the round table discussion, where we are participating, the industry is requested to provide evidence that the…

A team from AWF|TSB and our French partner organisation Welfarm follows a truck that is transporting calves from Poland to Spain. The calves are younger than eight weeks and are therefore considered as unweaned. Three of them are just 15 days old. According to the EU animal transport regulation 1/2005, unweaned calves must be given liquid which is…

Road inspections near Emstek follow the seminar of the day before. Within three hours six national transports are inspected, three loaded with pigs and four with unweaned calves, some of them just a few days old. In one truck a calf is released that got stuck between a dangerous divider and the side wall of the truck. Futhermore insufficient…