Another tragedy at the border crossing from Bulgaria to Turkey
[Translate to English:] In diesem Lkw wurden die Tiere von Polen an die türkische Grenze gebracht.
Yesterday, another terrible incident occurred at the border crossing to Turkey: 55 heifers from Poland were killed after being trapped between the borders for days. The reason: differing definitions of what constitutes a bluetongue-free area.
Turkey applies the guidelines of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), which considers entire provinces to be affected. Poland, on the other hand, uses a system in which certain areas within affected provinces are recognised as free of bluetongue disease. Some of the cattle came from an area that Poland considers free of the disease, but Turkey considers affected. While the authorities contradicted each other, the animals suffered – as is so often the case.
Although the animals were released from the transporter and given basic care, the current images reopen old wounds: less than a year ago, the fate of 69 heifers in the same border area shocked people around the world – documented by our research conducted together with our partner organisation ‘Animals' Angels’ and the film by German filmmaker Manfred Karremann. Although this case also caused a stir in politics, EU countries still export animals to third countries.
This renewed failure on the part of the authorities makes it brutally clear: the export of live animals to countries outside the EU must finally be banned!
The fact is that such transports can never be in line with animal welfare standards. Once an animal leaves the EU, there is no way back. One wrong or missing bureaucratic detail – and the animals are stuck in limbo. What follows is almost always the same: emergency slaughter. After days, sometimes weeks, of torment. Often crammed into overheated lorries, standing in their own excrement, in great fear.
We have been documenting these conditions for 15 years: days of waiting, extreme temperatures, lack of care, hardly any space. And for 15 years, we have been calling on politicians and authorities to take action. Each of our investigations, each publication increases the pressure.
This year, in just a few weeks, we will return to the Bulgarian-Turkish border area to uncover abuses, expose the suffering and hold those responsible to account. We are fighting to ensure that no more animals lose their lives in such a cruel manner.