Hungary to Turkey
Compassion’s investigators trailed consignments of slaughter bulls from Hungary and Slovakia to their final destinations in Turkey. In both cases the bulls were kept on the trucks for nearly 60 hours in very high temperatures throughout their journey.
For the first time, our investigators documented lengthy delays for European animals within Turkey. The Hungarian bulls were stopped at a customs post and with no facilities to unload or feed the animals here they remained on the truck for 20 hours. Failures in the automatic water system on board the truck and water troughs full of excrement led to the bulls being given water manually by the drivers using plastic crates. Using electric goads and poles, the drivers became aggressive to the bulls and it is far from clear whether all the bulls were able to access the water.
A cruel end
Our investigators trailed the Hungarian bulls to a slaughterhouse and witnessed the brutal death of one of the bulls too weak to get up after collapsing on unloading. A crane and winch was brought in and the bull was dragged back to the ramp area by its rear legs where it had its throat cut – an inhumane death without stunning. It was then lifted to the slaughter area and butchered later that night.
Latvia to Iraq
In another alarming incident, documented by an Eyes on Animals/Animal Welfare Foundation team, a truck was transporting bulls from Latvia to Iraq. Having travelled over 2600km to reach the Bulgarian / Turkish border, the truck was delayed at for 6 days whilst the appropriate documentation was obtained from the authorities. Once the truck was granted permission to continue its journey through Turkey, it had a further journey of 2000km to travel in order to reach their destination in Iraq. The end these animals met is not known.
A massive trade
The EU exports around 750,000 cattle and sheep annually to Turkey. The sheep and cattle, including tiny calves, come from a number of EU Member States including Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The trucks carrying the animals are from these countries but also from the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Romania and Croatia.
Some of the major problems these animals face in transport are:
- severe overcrowding; insufficient headroom
- inadequate ventilation (in summer 2011, temperatures as high as 58°C were recorded inside a truck at the Turkish border)
- lack of water
- lengthy delays at border crossings and customs posts
Compassion in World Farming are calling for the EU to:
- end the export of live animals to non-EU countries in order to prevent further suffering by EU animals
An ongoing issue
Compassion in World Farming undertook a similar investigation in 2011. That investigation highlighted many problems and, despite strong lobbying of the European Commission, those welfare issues are still occurring today. Read about these investigations >>
What you can do
This evidence shows the clear need for an end to live exports from the EU to non-EU countries. Please act now to stop this trade by sending our document summarising the animal welfare problems involved, to the EU Commissioner, Dr Tonio Borg.
View the investigation film and briefing document sent to the European Commission by Compassion and our supporters >>
Compassion in World Farming would like to thank Aston House Stud for generously supporting its 2012 investigation.
Could you support our work to put a stop to long distance transport with a donation?
Compassion receives no government funding, and our campaigns to protect animals from cruelty depend on the generosity of supporters like you. If you are able, please consider making a donation to Compassion today.
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