Investigations by Topics:

19. October 2022

Joint live transport inspections with the Polish road transport police (ITD)

Together with the Polish road transport police IDT our team is on the lookout for live transports.

Our team is driving to Gorzow in Western Poland to join the road transport police (ITD) for animal welfare inspections of live transports. During two shifts, we inspect six vehicles in total.

Among them, two trucks with German pigs being transported for slaughter, two vehicles with Danish piglets on board on journeys exceeding 8 hours for further…

13. October 2022

Seminar on live transports for police and official veterinarians in Giessen (Germany)

During a seminar for police and official veterinarians, our project manager Iris Baumgärtner gives a lecture on welfare problems during live transports. She is supported by Dr Claudia Eggert-Satzinger, an official veterinarian with many years of experience with inspections of live transports. The main topic are the requirements of the European…

04. October 2022

Why is the EU working against science when it comes to live exports via sea?

EU cattle being loaded onto a livestock carrier via raceways.

The facts by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) are on the table. When transported via sea, there are more animal welfare risks for all species than when transported via truck. And yet, the EU Commission is not ready to ban these cruel transports across the Mediterranean. How can that be possible?

EFSA is responsible for providing…

30. September 2022

Poland | Swietokrzyskie | Monthly report September: Farm Animal Service

Stara Slupia: After shortening the overgrown claws of this mother cow, she can walk without pain again.

This month is very busy for our Farm Animal Service (FAS) team. We start our work on two farms in Debniak. There we trim the hooves of five horses. Afterwards, we are driving to a farm in Czastkow. We are happy to see that the owner has finished building a new stable. Currently, he is using it for storage, but soon he will build boxes so that his…

27. September 2022

Investigation in the US: Bouvry’s horse assembly centre in Shelby

Success: Bouvry's assembly centre in Shelby (USA) has ceased operations.

The Bar S Feedlot in Shelby, Montana, can hold up to 1,800 animals. It serves as a horse assembly centre for the Canadian slaughter company Bouvry. Slaughter horses from all over the United States are gathered here before being transported to Bouvry's slaughterhouse in Calgary (Canada). There, the horses destined for the EU market stay in feedlots…

26. September 2022

Nader-A: Systematic authority failure again leads to the emergency killing of several hundred bulls

Recording from a past investigation: young bulls in an overcrowded pen on the Nader-A.

Live export tragedies at sea are man-made. This is again being demonstrated by the case Nader-A. At the beginning of September, around 800 young bulls were transported from France to Algeria on the vessel called Nader-A. The unloading of the animals was refused in Algiers due to a bureaucratic problem. After three weeks of wandering around the…

21. September 2022

800 young bulls stranded in the Mediterranean Sea. Is their emergency killing now imminent?

Recordings from our investigations: Animals are being loaded on the vessel NADER-A in a European export port.

Almost three weeks ago, the animals were shipped from France to Algeria. There, the unloading of the animals was refused due to a bureaucratic problem. Since then, the bulls have been wandering the Mediterranean, penned up on a 45-year-old junk ship, the Nader-A. Up until now we do not know how many animals are still alive. We suspect that the…

15. September 2022

Investigation in the US: Horse auction in New Holland

Horse with deformed left front leg.

Together with our partner Animals' Angels USA, we visit the weekly horse sale in New Holland, Pennsylvania. Again, we are here to check the conditions of the animals during the sale and to monitor the kill buyers’ activities.

It is a slow sale day, over half the barn is empty. We note that there are a lot of emaciated horses, and several have…

31. August 2022

Poland | Swietokrzyskie | Monthly report August: Farm Animal Service

Paprocice: This mare is still used for working the field.

In August our Farm Animal Service team starts their work on a farm in Paprocice. There, we trim the hooves of two mares who are still used for work on the field since the owner does not have a tractor. During our inspection he tells us that he is contemplating to sell the animals and replace them with a machine, since he is getting older and…