Today we checked on several Dutch platted trucks from the company Keus en Mollink. We are relieved to see that this time, finally, the condition of the animals and the trucks appear alright. The drivers all know about us being there. They stop at a station in Kapikue to give the animals water and hay. We observe a very dirty Hungarian truck from the company Agrarcoop. The water troughs are full of manure and the bedding is filthy and wet. It is obvious that some of these Hungarian bulls are on the road a lot longer than written on the papers. Many drivers admit that it takes them sometimes a whole day to pick up animals at different small farms all over the country before the truck is full. And only then do they note down “time of departure”, despite 10 hours already passing by since the loading of the first animal! In the afternoon we visit, together with some men from the recent meetings, a plot of land that is available to eventually build an emergency unloading stable on (see photo below). It is 16 hectares and very close to the border. We will put as much pressure as possible on the authorities here, the EU, the importers and exporters of live animals via this route and the transport companies accepting this business to invest time and money into one finally being built. It is completely unacceptable that animals are left on board trucks for days at this border, and that industry and government players have been tolerating it all this time and leaving animals to suffer.
