Farm animals
Transport
Stop the agony of animals that are being transported!
Every year millions of live sheep, pigs and cows are being transported through Europe and very frequently for a very long time. From Croatia, cattle are shipped to Arabic countries and horses are shipped to Italy.
Majority of Croats believe that the animals are treated in a human way. Nowadays, the animals are being transported in spaces that are too small, on trucks, ships or trains without any protection from the weather conditions, without food, water or rest. Such trips last for more than 40 hours. Many of the animals get ill or hurt in the meantime. Such animals are taken off the boats with cranes, their leg or two legs tied by chain and they are dragged with chains to the slaughter houses where their agony ends in an illegal and brutal way.
Long transports of animals in overcrowded vehicles, combined with dehydration and hunger result in very low protection of animals and are often lethal. (European Commission 1993.)
Looking from the animal protection point of view, the transport time must be reduced to minimum because the transport itself is very stressful, physically and mentally (Knowles et al,1996)
Moreover, the long transport of live animals is almost totally unnecessary way of trade. Most of the animals included in this long, lethal transport will be slaughtered, sooner or later after reaching the destination. We believe that animals that are to be slaughtered should be taken to slaughterhouses close to the farms where they were bred. The meat can then be shipped wherever it needs to go.
One of the cruelest transports is the one of transporting hundreds of thousands of animals that need to be slaughtered to Middle East and Northern Africa. The biggest exporters are Germany and Ireland, France being the third. From Ireland, animals are transported by ships, from Germany by rail and road to ports of Italy, France, Slovenia or Croatia. From here, animals continue transport on ships
The animals that are so weak that they can not move or those who are hurt are being treated in especially cruel way during the transport from road to the ship or unloading from ship to land, especially in Beirut and Egypt.
In the croatian port Raba a German team filmed the loading of a cow with a crane on several occasions. Animal's leg was tied; it was lifted in the air and placed in the ship.
The veterinary inspector working in the port, said he didn't know that this is not allowed, although there is a Law on veterinary and the Law on the Welfare of Animals.
The animals delivered to Arabic countries end their lives in an especially cruel manner by being slaughtered without anesthetics for cultural and religious reasons. Their throat is being cut and they are left to bleed to death, without using an anesthetic.
Republic of Croatia does not even have the Regulation on International Transport of Animals nor is it a signatory to the European Directive on Animal Transport.
Instead of a conclusion: We are pleased with everything, especially the fact that Croatian beef encounters growing interest and demand. The biggest interest comes from Muslim countries and we established contacts with Egyptians, said Miroslav Pazur, Assistant Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.
The aim of this campaign is to raise awareness of all citizens and Institutions on tragedy of the farm animals. Hundreds of volunteers from 8 countries:
- Lithuania
- Poland
- Check
- Slovakia
- Hungary
- Croatia
- Slovenia
- Italy
are working with CIWF, Great Britain and ANIMALS ANGELS, from Germany under the umbrella of REC to unite their voices and display exhibitions, informative stands and sit outside the governmental offices in order to establish the rights for protection of farm animals.
WHAT CAN YOU DO:
JOIN US IN RAISING POLITICAL AWARENESS ON ANIMAL ABUSE IN TRANSPORT AS WELL AS THE CONSEQUENCES OF SUCH TREATMENT, WHICH EVENTUALLY GETS BACK TO HUMANS, ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMY.