Today a big meeting was held at the EU Commission. Representatives from all EU Member States, involved NGO’s, industry representatives from the UECBV and the Food and Veterinary Office inspectors were present. Eyes on Animals, Animal Welfare Foundation and CIWF distributed our handout with the latest update of the situation at the Turkish border and spoke about the recent improvements and some serious on-going problems. Several Member States, namely Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria and Lithuania voiced the actions their country took to improve animal welfare, many of which sound very promising. We continued to urge the EU Commission, industry and Member States to communicate with Turkey so that concrete plans for infrastructure at the border, plus clear understanding of import requirements, can be developed quickly. We stressed that it is urgent as we want to avoid horrors like we observed last summer, when animals were left waiting for days on board stationary vehicles in 40 degree weather, and many died from dehydration, hunger, suffocation and exhaustion. We also encouraged industry to do their part, namely by reviewing the professionalism of their livestock drivers and offering additional trainings and welfare-workshops so that the general quality of drivers across Europe is increased. The welfare of animals is always better assured when they are transported by educated and caring drivers who know how to handle stressful situations and care for the biological needs of animals.
Eyes on Animals -
12.03.2012 Meeting with EU Commission and EU Member States to improve conditions for animals transported to Turkey
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Transport
All farmed animals are transported at least once in their lifetime. Journeys can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks. Transport is known to be one of the most stressful experiences for animals. They are moved from a familiar territory to a new one and are held often under very crowded conditions. They get separated from each other and mixed with unfamiliar animals, which can lead to stress and fighting. Sometimes there is no water and feed available or the animals cannot reach it. Animals that wish to lie down during the journey are at risk of being trampled by the others. Sometimes conditions on board are very cold or very hot, leading to animals dying from hypothermia and suffocation. There are laws in place to prevent these types of problems, but there is very little official inspection during the journey to check if these laws are respected. Eyes on Animals regularly trails and checks livestock transport consignments to see if the welfare of the animals is respected during transit.
