Germany | Trier-Saarburg | Transport of calves via assembly centres to Spain
Transporters with calves from Germany on their way to France.
In November and December 2019, transports of unweaned calves to Spain are not approved in the German state of Baden-Würrtemberg due to transport restrictions. However, our team reveals that calves are still being transported to Spain via assembly centres. This practise is also referred to as "assembly centre hopping".
Calves from Southern Germany are transported to an assembly centre in Rheinland-Pfalz, where they receive new documents for an international transport to France. For the calves, this means a detour of over 300 km. The designated destination in the Alsace is, again, another assembly centre. Here the calves receive new accompanying documents for the transport to Spain after having remained in the stables for 24 hours. Even though they would be legally obliged to remain in France for at least 48 hours. Their new destination in Spain is also an assembly centre. A few hours after their arrival, the calves are then transported to fattening farms in Spain.
Assembly centre hopping is an unlawful practice. The calves are often transported for over 30 hours without milk or milk replacers. We will report the trader, the transport company as well as the official veterinarians who were involved in this process to the competent authorities.
