Investigations by country:

20. May 2017

Poland | Bodzentyn | Cattle market

[Translate to English:] Kuh mit vernachlässigten Klauen.

Our team is inspecting cattle market in Bodzentyn. There are much less animals than a week ago. We count only about 300-350 animals. There are quite a lot of animals with neglected claws and a few emaciated cows. We note down the ear tag numbers and discover that two are written with a marker, and one was broken. Both are not clearly readable. We…

07. April 2017

Poland | Lublin | Police (ITD) training

[Translate to English:]

It is our fifth day of work with ITD (Road Transport Inspection) from Lublin area, accompanied by Veterinary Inspectors. This time we inspect one truck, but with plenty of violations. The example how NOT to transport poultry: the curtains are inappropriate, not allowing proper ventilation; the crates are destroyed, creating a) risk of injury and…

06. April 2017

Poland | Lublin area | Police (ITD) training – follow up

[Translate to English:]

The weather is not supporting our work today: we are inspecting animal transports with Road Transport Inspectors in wind, rain and hail. The first stopped truck is empty, documents and construction are OK. The second one, a national pig transport, raises our doubts about loading density, but after careful calculations we see that there are no…

05. April 2017

Poland | Lublin - Kraśnik | Police (ITD) training – follow up

[Translate to English:]

Another long day on the road with Road Transport Inspection and Veterinary Inspection. The first truck is empty, so we have a look inside a very well equipped long distance swanneck trailer - a great educating opportunity. Next, a short distance transport is a consignment of pigs whose status makes us worried: they are dirty, obviously stressed, we…

04. April 2017

Poland | Lublin - Kraśnik | Police (ITD) training – follow up

[Translate to English:]

Three animal transports inspected today with Road Transport Inspection. The first truck looked familiar, and indeed it was the same one that we inspected yesterday, with the same driver. We were pleased to see again proper conditions for the animals. The driver only received a warning for incomplete documentation under Art. 4 of Reg. 1/2005. The…

30. March 2017

Poland | Podhale | Transport of lambs from Poland to Italy

[Translate to English:] Ein verzweifeltes Lamm zeigt den Saugreflex.

We inspect a sale market of lambs in southern Poland and follow a long-distance transport from this sale to a slaughterhouse in Italy. The truck carries 800 lambs, loaded on four decks in crowded conditions and with insufficient headspace. The lambs differ in sizes and ages and most of them are still on a milk diet. The driver makes several breaks…

07. March 2017

Poland | Skaryszew | Inspection of horse market - Day 2

[Translate to English:] Der zweite Tag ist gemütlich und entspannt.

Today the atmosphere is much calmer. There are only about 70 warm-blooded horses (including ponies) and not too many interested buyers. Many trucks leave empty. We are waiting until the last horse leaves the market. We watch the loading of two small lorries. Both have improper ramps. Moreover, one is overloaded and tows a trailer. The trader loads…

06. March 2017

Poland | Skaryszew | Inspection of horse market - Day 1

[Translate to English:] Unpassendes Fahrzeug, Stress und schlechtes Wetter führt zu gefährlichen Situationen für die Pferde und Menschen.

There are by far fewer horses than last year, we count about 250-300. Animals are not so squeezed under the roofed area, but still there is not enough space to keep safe distance between them. Some of the horses standing next to each other try to bite and kick. Again, no one cares about feeding and watering the horses, so the basic needs of many of…

06. March 2017

Poland | Skaryszew | Police (ITD) training - inspections during 1st day of Skaryszew horse market

[Translate to English:]

After the luxury of 1.5 hours of sleep we are back on the road with ITD (Road Transport Inspection) officers to check on transports leaving the Skaryszew horse market. We witness cases of too big animals transported in too small lorries, trailers in bad technical condition and problematic international transport that leaves the market without…