Live transport investigation in Poland together with the Polish Road Transport Police (ITD)
Polish local transport of broilers.
Lithuania’s exploited laying hens are transported to Poland to be slaughtered.
Latvian piglets are carried without food and sufficient bedding to Poland for fattening.
Crowded transport of pigs from Lithuania to Poland.
In June our team joins the Polish Road Transport Police (ITD) again with their live transport inspections. This time we are in the North-Eastern part of Poland. During three inspection days together with ITD Bialystok, we inspect seven animal trucks carrying adult pigs, piglets, bulls, laying hens and broilers. Unfortunately, the majority of the transports are in breach of the EU transport regulation 1/2005.
All three trucks carrying adult pigs are overloaded. They are carrying too many animals. However, they are not travelling far. Therefore, the inspectors decide to let them go instead of reloading the animals to avoid more stress for the animals. Since reloading would take much more than the journey to their final destination. A different situation awaits our team during an inspection of a truck carrying French bulls from Lithuania to Austria. Here, a few animals are reloaded to a second truck due to overloading and a long journey onward. Moreover, the truck did not have additional food for the journey.
The same violation is revealed in the transport of piglets from Lithuania to Poland. They are carried without food. Additionally, the bedding is insufficient, and animals are laying on dirty and slippery floor.
The last truck we inspect is carrying exploited laying hens from Lithuania to Poland. The picture inside the vehicle is horrible. The animals are not in good shape. They have bald patches on their body of missing feathers. They cannot stand in a natural position. We spotted already a few dead animals. This happens happens regularly during transport of poultry and on every truck dead birds are found. Hens are afraid of almost every noise. Very likely this is their first contact with the outside world. Their life was limited to the stable with artificial light so far. It is clear that the current EU transport regulation does not protect these sensitive animals well. We will keep fighting for better provisions.
The ITD inspectors start their proceedings to issue monetary fines on the transporters carrying animals in breach of the EU transport regulation. And our team will send complaints to the competent authorities approving those transports.