In the early morning, we are following the calf transporter on the highway A9 when the drivers stop near Nîmes. They say the inside temperature is 6°C. We check the animals with a flashlight and most of them are resting. The younger calves in the trailer look more crowded and some of them are stepping on each other. Some calves are coughing and…

Before we follow a transport of unweaned calves from Lithuania to Spain, we want to

document keeping conditions for calves in Lithuanian dairy farms. The first farm we

visit has 100 dairy cows and about 30 calves. Five calves are only a few days old

and are kept in the cowshed. One of these animals is sick and being treated with

antibiotics.…

Due to the high motivation of the WITD road inspectors in Szczecin that participated in our training course yesterday, we were asked to again stop and control livestock trucks together this morning before heading home. Early in the morning we stopped two livestock vehicles. One had pigs from Germany and was heading to the slaughterhouse in…

Today our training team (Eyes on Animals and Animal Welfare Foundation inspectors and Dr. Rabitsch, an Austrian veterinarian and expert transport inspector) was in Szczecin to give a theory and practical training course to the official road inspectors from the WITD as well as two official veterinarians from the regional office. From 9:00 until…

We arrive at the Bouvry slaughter plant at 7:45. The pens contain 70 to 100 horses each. Only one pen with shelter is visible in the entire area. Some pens hold large groups of mares and foals of all ages. Some foals have severe nasal discharge, others are coughing continuously. One foal appears to be very sick, either from advanced strangles…

At 8:15 we arrive at Bouvry’s small feedlot on Range Road 264, where it is evident that the holding conditions have not improved since our last visit two years ago. The grounds are covered in manure and muddy. There is still no shelter from the elements and only a limited quantity of straw is visible inside the pen area, by far not enough to…

Our team follows a long-distance transport from the calf market in Château-Gontier, France, to three different farms and an assembly centre in Catalonia, Spain. At the market, some pens are so crowded that only a few calves can lie down and rest. The majority of the pens have straw bedding, but several have no bedding at all and the calves have to…

Our team arrives at 6.10am at the cattle market at Bodzentyn and immediately receives information about a tragic accident that just happened at the market. A trader got injured by a cow that jumped from the truck, certainly in panic and fear from the steep unloading ramp. The ambulance arrived shortly after, but we were informed later that he died…

The mayor of Bodzentyn invited again traders, the vet inspection Kielce, the veterinarian and our team to discuss developments and problems at the market in Bodzentyn. No one participated from the traders. The representatives of the Vetinspection Kielce are doing regular inspections now and started some administrative and legislative procedures…