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…

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…

Our team covertly trails a German transporter carrying unweaned calves to Spain. We are accompanied by an official veterinarian. After eight hours the drivers stopp in France to supply the calves with electrolyte solution. The majority of the calves is using the mobile drinking system.

We are positively surprised to observe for the first time the…

The port of Cartagena in Spain is one of the most important export ports. From there, European animals are transported to countries outside the EU. In mid-June, our team observes the loading of bovine animals onto export ships. Our partner organisations Animals International and Verein Gegen Tierfabriken are with us.

The vessels JULIA AK (built…

This month, our Farm Animal Service (FAS) team is starting their work looking after several cows. We start our first visit on a farm in Szerzawy. There we trim the claws of three cows. Their claws are heavily overgrown. The claws of the rest of the herd seem to be in a good condition. Usually, the farmer ensures that his animals are getting their…

April is a busy month for our Farm Animal Service (FAS) team. We start our work on a farm in Bodzentyn where a horse had an accident. The horse cut his tongue with hay-bale string. Unfortunately, there is nothing our team can do to help. The horse needs medical assistance, and we advise the owner to call a veterinarian immediately.

Next, we are on…

Following the invitation of Dr. Madeleine Martin from the Hessian Ministry of Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, our project manager Iris Baumgärtner holds a presentation on animal welfare problems during live transports. She is supported by Dr Claudia Eggert-Satzinger, an official veterinarian with many years of…

In March, our FAS-team starts their work by visiting two farms in Rzepin. We want to check on a foal that stopped eating. We inspect the teeth but cannot find anything wrong with them.  However, we observe that the area around foal’s nose bone seems to be swollen. Moreover, his walk looks very stiff. We advise the owner to call a veterinarian. On…

Together with our partner organisations, Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), and Animals International (AI) our investigative teams have witnessed how an old, former cargo ship with nearly 8,000 animals on board needed to be replaced while at sea. Inadequate European legislation and its poor implementation regularly lead to prolonged suffering of…